Sixteen Going on Seventeen
by Kavi Leighanna
Summary: Who she is and who she wants to be aren't the same anymore. Piper/Leo
1. Chapter 1: The Nobody of Baker High

Sixteen Going on Seventeen

**_Piper returns to high school after a summer in New England with her sisters and father a different girl than she'd left. When someone thinks it would be funny to nominate the nerd against the popular girls for council representative and Piper wins, her life is changed completely. The fact that she slowly feels herself becoming attracted to the life of council and, more specifically, the council president, Piper has to struggle with who she is and who she wants to be._**

**_Alternate Universe - Piper/Leo_**

* * *

Piper Halliwell was nothing in the world of Baker High. On the other hand, she barely existed. Which was fine with her, really. Really it was. 

_Now it sounds like I'm trying to convince myself_, Piper thought as she stepped into the school's hallways, not even paying attention to the fact that no one bothered to call out a hello. 

No one talked to her as she opened her locker and pushed everything inside, grabbing only the few notebooks she was going to need for her schedule before weaving through the students again to her first class.. She took refuge in the open door, burrowing herself in her latest fiction novel, her only company throughout the long hours of school.

That wasn't to say she didn't love her classes. In fact, she adored them, and adored learning in general. That didn't always help when it came down to the everyday things that school included. Group work, for example, was often torture, but a mandatory learning experience, according to teachers. So Piper suffered.

It wasn't that she wasn't smart. On the other hand, her grades were exemplary and many teachers had called her in to offer her tutoring positions. But Piper never took them. Her chores at home and her sisters often took up most of her time, even though Prue, the eldest of the three, had moved out ages ago to attend college. Books and class were Piper's only escape from the chaotic life at home.

She only glanced up as the rest of her first period calculus class filed in, ignoring the loser already seated. They didn't ignore the ones still standing though.

"Oh God, Lacey, did Fat Camp do nothing for you?"

Piper rolled her eyes. If there was one person in the entire school she actually hated - Piper wasn't the kind to full out hate -- it was Erin Gervais, head cheerleader and senior student. Behind her came her gaggle of cheerleaders, jocks and general popular crowd, her puppy of a boyfriend following close behind her. 

"Well, I, Um…"

"That's all you can say? Maybe you should go to Smart Camp. Maybe that'll do something for you."

Piper saw Puppy Boyfriend roll his eyes at Erin's response and clenched her fists. _If he didn't like it, he should really do something about it,_ she thought to herself as she continued to watch the scene unfold. 

"Come on, Erin. We'll find seats."

Piper raised her eyebrow, knowing no one was paying any attention to her to begin with. That was the best he could do? Seriously? Lacey looked utterly destroyed where she sat, the desk right beside Piper's. And in kicked Piper's big heart.

"You don't have to listen to her," she said softly, eyes still fixated on the book.

Lacey looked utterly shocked that someone had spoken to her, even more that it was a girl she swore she'd never seen before. "Who are you?"

Piper smiled ironically. "Piper Halliwell."

"Are you new?"

Piper looked down at herself, at what Prue and Phoebe had done over the summer holidays for her frizz-ball hair, glasses and over-sized clothing. "Something like that."

Lacey wrinkled her nose. "You don't want to deal with Erin. You'd think that Leo would reign her in a bit, but they broke up two years ago. Sophomore year. I think he just follows her around to make sure she doesn't do too much damage."

Piper's eyebrow hit her hairline. "Too much damage?"

"That could have been a lot worse," Lacey answered with a tight smile.

Piper's rock seemed so much more comfortable again and she wondered why she'd let Prue and Phoebe, her sisters, drag her around all summer. They'd gone to visit their father in New England and Prue and Phoebe had taken it upon themselves to compliment Piper's loss of her braces with an entirely new outside.

But she was starting to miss the blissful nature of being ignorant.

She was about to respond when both the teacher and Principal Colton stepped into the room. "Good morning class. Is Piper Halliwell here?"

Piper blinked. Then slowly raised her hand.

Principal Colton smiled. "Congratulations, Miss Halliwell. Your classmates elected you junior class representative on this year's student council."

"What?" Piper asked, mostly out of reflex.

"Junior?" came the teacher's equally stunned response.

"Miss Halliwell is one of our brightest students, Miss Sales. You are in for a treat, I'm sure." And without another word, the principal left. 

Piper continued to stare at the door. This had to have been a joke. No one knew her, it was the first day of school, there was no way they could have elected a junior class rep. She sighed as her head hit the desk, suddenly recalling one of the many changes Principal Colton had made to the school. 

When she found out who had done this, she was going to kill them. Slowly and painfully. 

She glanced back at Erin and her cheerleader crowd, surprised to find Puppy Apparently-Not-Boyfriend's eyes locked on her, surprise and confusion in his eyes too. She quickly turned back. What was that? Why did she suddenly feel like everyone was staring at her? 

"I guess a congratulations are in order, Miss Halliwell," Sales agreed as she stepped around the front desk. "Now, if we could all focus on calculus, we'll be set. Now, this class will not be easy…"

* * *

**_Alright. This is my first Charmed story. That's not to say I'd like you to go easy on me or that I'd like you to be nice when you review. On the contrary, I'd prefer to hear criticism and what I could do better. I'm not sure whether I want to continue this or not, so let me know!_**


	2. Chapter 2: The Voice for the Oppressed

Leo Wyatt knew almost every single person who walked the halls of Baker High. It was something he prided himself on and a foundation he'd built his campaign for president on. It had worked like a charm and he now held the highest student position within the school. 

But he had never heard of Piper Halliwell before. 

It was the only explanation he could come up with for why he was sitting in the yearbook office - the editor was an acquaintance of his - looking through the last four years to try and discover any link. 

It wasn't just anyone that got elected to student council. From the look on Piper's face, she hadn't been prepared for the announcement at all. And Leo knew that it was a lot of work. If she was taking senior courses, it wasn't likely that she'd thought about what winning meant when she campaigned.

Actually, now that he thought about it, Leo couldn't remember any Piper Halliwell campaign material or posters throughout the hallway come May and June. She was a ghost that had just shown up on the first day of his senior calculus class.

As Leo flipped through the pages of each class, from each year, he found himself almost completely stumped. Eventually, in the yearbook from his sophomore year, he came across a Halliwell. But it wasn't Piper. 

Prudence Halliwell was a chipper looking girl at eighteen, wearing her cheerleading uniform in her school picture. He read the little mini biography beside her picture and almost burst out laughing. There was no way Piper could be related to such a social butterfly. Prue had been class president, head cheerleader, and all around altruistic personality. 

He flipped further and came to a dead stop. There, right in front of him, was probably the reason why he'd never seen Piper Halliwell before. Apparently someone - the credit said Andy Trudeau - had submitted a picture of Prue and her sister to the yearbook. The name underneath it read Piper Halliwell, but she looked nothing like the girl that had been in the front row of his class that morning.

Huge glasses were perched on her pert nose, the one that Leo did find adorable upon looking in her eyes that morning, and her hair was a frizzy mess. Not to mention the braces and the over-sized clothing. It didn't look like the girl he'd seen in class until he looked closer and noted similar facial features and an almost identical hair colour.

He hadn't noticed her before that morning, had no reason to look beyond his own little clique. But now he was going to have to work with her on a regular basis and he felt like his reputation as the guy who knew everyone (at least by name) was going to fall down hill fast when and if people found out he hadn't a clue who Piper was before looking her up.

Suddenly, the door opened and the person stopped dead. "Oh, sorry. I didn't know anyone else came here."

Leo looked up, shocked to see the very girl he was looking for standing there, lunch bag over one shoulder, backpack over the other and a book in her hands. "No, it's no problem. Piper, right?"

Piper smiled self-consciously. "Yeah. Um, I can go look for somewhere else if you're busy."

"No, no. I'm… I'm done, actually."

Piper nodded watching him stand and walk towards her. He stopped just to her right, mere inches from leaving her in peace. She was surprised when he held out his hand.

"I'm Leo Wyatt."

Reluctantly, Piper shook. "Student Council president. I know of you."

He blinked. Her comment made him feel absolutely terrible for not knowing her name. 

She smiled. "It shouldn't come as a shock. Though I'm not exactly sure why you make it your mission to know everyone's name. I mean, that seems really silly to spend your time on, especially when it's possible for people to make complete transformations over the summer or to transfer and then you don't have a yearbook to go off of and… And I'm blabbering aren't I? Well, this is suitably embarrassing."

Leo couldn't stop himself from chuckling. "Nervous habit?"

Piper closed her eyes. "Something like that, yeah. Um… you know what? I'll find somewhere else to eat."

Leo rested a hand on her arm, trying to hide his surprise at the tingle that raced up his hand. "This is your place, I'm an intruder. I'm sure I'll see you around Piper. First council meeting is two weeks from now, Monday at lunch."

Piper nodded and couldn't stop herself from watching his retreating back. Then, down the hall, came her bohemian-skirted, scatterbrained best friend. Or the closest thing she had to a best friend.

Leila Brice stopped dead as she took in Piper's view and the all-popular student council president striding confidently down the hall. "Oh please tell me I haven't lost you to the dark side too."

The brunette blinked at her redheaded counterpart. "What?"

"Leo Wyatt? Everyone's crush? Erin's boytoy? Ringing any bells? You were watching him walk down the halls like he was a God. Snap out of it."

Piper rolled her eyes. "I have to get to know the guy if I'm going to work with him Leila."

"Work with him? What are you talking about?"

"I'm junior class representative."

Leila raised an eyebrow. "How? You didn't even run."

"I must have. Did we just decide to block it out?"

"We'd know if you ran," Leila said with a sarcastic snort. 

Piper nodded absently as she held the door open for her friend. 

"When did you find out?" Leila asked setting her bags down at her usual chair and leaving Piper to sit across from her. 

"First period calculus. In front of everyone," Piper responded with a groan, dropping her head to her hands, lunch open and forgotten beside her.

Leila chewed thoughtfully for a minute. "This could actually work in our advantage."

"What on earth are you talking about? This is terrible!" Piper groaned from her folded arms. "Terrible, horrible and stupid. But apparently I have to wait until the first council meeting to withdraw from my seat."

"Why would you do that? You have a voice for every disenfranchised student in the entire school. You could make so many changes!"

"Can I start with getting used to my changes?"

Leila looked her friend over. "Now I'm really starting to think I'm losing you. What happened?"

"My sisters happened," Piper responded, finally taking a bite out of her sandwich. "New England, Prue, Phoebe and a father who just wants a part in his daughters' lives."

The redhead nodded thoughtfully. "Well, it makes sense now. The e-mail I mean, where you said that hell had frozen over or had started rotating the wrong way or whatever it was."

"Yeah."

"So when are you changing back?"

Piper looked at herself. "I'm not sure I will. Sometimes it's just easier to go with the flow and do what people want than it is going against it."

"You look like one of _them_ and you're not going to change?"

"It's not because of that. It's because this is something my sisters did for me."

"I'll never understand sisterly love," Leila said with a shake of her head. "Mia and I rarely get along and yet you and your sisters, three girls who couldn't be more different, are so close."

Piper shrugged. "Think you can deal with the change?"

"Think you can deal with council? Erin's senior rep and you know that she's got two little planted cheerleaders for sophomore and freshman class. You're going to be an outsider in an insider's circle."

"I have to, don't I? You said it yourself, I'm a voice for the disenfranchised."

Leila blinked. "I didn't think you'd take that seriously!"

Piper sighed, remembering Erin's cutting remarks to Lacey that morning. "Look, you make a good point when you say that. I watched Erin Gervais pick on a girl this morning and no one did anything about it. It's time for her to realize that she can't run the school. And maybe we can actually rebuild the school."

"You're an optimist, I give you that," Leila said skeptically.

Piper shrugged. "It's worth a shot, isn't it?"

"You're actually going to do this? You're actually going to walk into the council room on Monday in front of all those people? Piper, you barely know anyone in the school."

Piper glared. "Thanks for the encouragement."

Leila rolled her eyes. "That's not what I meant and you know it."

"I'm just sick of watching Erin pick on everyone with no one to fight back. And you know I've listened to almost everyone. The chemistry department needs new beakers, the library needs new books and new materials to fix them. And who has the biggest influence over the school?"

"The athletic department," Leila answered promptly.

"Exactly."

Leila eyed the sparkle in Piper's eyes apprehensively. "Alright, but consider this your warning and the beginning of our farmer's bet. When this falls apart I _definitely_ get to say 'I told you so'."


	3. Chapter 3: The Way it Wasn't Meant to Be

Monday came much faster than Piper would have wanted and she'd tried everything to get to sleep the night before. To say she was nervous for the first council meeting would have been an understatement. She was, in fact, utterly terrified. How on earth was she going to talk to a bunch of people she didn't know.

"Hey sweetie."

Piper looked up from packing her school bag to find Prue in the doorway. "Morning."

"I heard the news. Why didn't you tell us?"

"What?"

"That you were even going to run? I had no idea you were thinking of getting elected."

Piper rolled her eyes. "Its someone's idea of a joke. Probably a test, and since no one really knew that I existed…"

"Piper, people knew you existed," Prue said with an exasperated sigh.

"That doesn't even work as encouragement," Piper responded smartly. "Leo Wyatt had to look through the yearbooks to figure out who I was."

Prue looked thoughtful for a minute. "He's the one that knows everyone's name, right?"

"By face. As if he's met each and every one of them. But he didn't know mine."

Prue rolled her eyes. "Don't you think you're overreacting?"

"I'm turning down my seat at today's meeting."

"Are you insane?"

"Prue, I know you want me to get out there, make friends and all that, but I don't want to be friends with these people. They pick on anyone and everyone and I won't do that."

"You don't have to be friends with them." Prue responded, her tone telling Piper she thought the answer was obvious. "You don't even have to _like_ them, Piper. You just have to work with them."

"How is that different?"

Prue shrugged. "You play nice. Say the right thing at the right time and you'll be just fine."

Piper blinked. "Can you make up your mind please?"

"What?"

"One second you want me to be myself and then you want me to play nice with people I hate? I'm dropping council."

Prue sighed. "Why? You've been given a golden opportunity! I mean, someone had to think you couldn't get elected or couldn't do the job or they wouldn't have nominated you, right? This is your chance to prove to those people that not only will you accept the responsibility but you'll take it on with charm and grace and Halliwell stubbornness."

Piper looked at her sister like she'd grown two or three extra heads. "You _want_ me to do this?"

Prue stepped forward, putting her hands on Piper's shoulders. "Of course I want you to do this. I wanted you to get involved, didn't I? And what more of a golden opportunity than this? And you can carry on the Halliwell legacy, though I doubt Phoebe will follow."

Piper blinked. "No."

The two weeks had given Piper a lot of time to think about council and what it would entail. She'd determined that there was no way she was going to be able to add anything else to her plate. Plus, she was perfectly content being someone virtually invisible with very few friends and fewer acquaintances. She was happy to just do her work, do her chores, get her scholarships and go away to school. So, she'd decided to give up her seat.

Prue sighed. "Fine. Come on, I'll give you a ride."

Piper glared at her sister. "There's nothing you can say that will convince me, you know."

"Do you want the ride or not?"

"I'll be ready in five minutes."

* * *

Piper took a deep breath as she stepped into the hall, heading for the council room at lunch that day. Her stomach had been doing somersaults though most of her anthropology course and had graduated to flips the minute she set foot in biology. She knew what she was going to do. There was no way Piper Halliwell, invisible and elected on a fluke was going to-

"Hey Pizza Face! I need my essay by the end of tomorrow! Your wording is too smart, I almost got in trouble, you idiot."

Piper's attention was drawn to a pimply faced boy and football star Dan Gordon. While she agreed with the rest of the school that the boy was cute, she hated him on principle. And she hated how he thought he could just order everyone around. Not to mention how much she disliked anyone who cheated on their academics. The worst part was, according to the constitution of Baker High's student government, there had to be a male and female representative of each class. Naturally, he was her co-representative.

_Too bad he was elected out of fear_, Piper thought to herself as she glared at Dan's retreating back. Carefully she approached the boy, her big heart kicking in again. "You okay?"

He looked up at her in surprise. "Um… I… Um…"

Piper smiled slightly. "Trust me, I'm no where close to where you think I sit in the social hierarchy. I just hate him."

"Don't we all."

Piper chuckled slightly, her heart warming at the surprised smile that grew over his face. "Yeah… Look, I have to get going. Are you sure you're going to be okay?"

"It's nothing I haven't dealt with before," he said on a sigh. "I'll be fine."

Piper felt her ire rise as he walked away. 'It's nothing I haven't dealt with before'. Piper hated those words, especially when the circumstances including picking on someone. New resolve carried her down the halls to the council room. She sat in the chair with her nametag, impressed at the organization that went into the meeting. Leo sat at the head of the table, his vice president to one side, social chair to the other. Piper knew Nick Trudeau from their childhood, though when they entered Baker High she'd ensured that their communication dwindled to a pen-pal-like relationship. There was no use in letting her bookish tendencies keep him from his dreams. But it was nice to know there was someone she knew and trusted on council.

"Good morning-almost-afternoon everyone," Leo said smoothly. "Welcome to the first meeting of this year's Baker High Student Council."

The council clapped, Piper joining in reluctantly.

"Alright, we have new faces with us this year, so I'm just going to go over what we're going to do today. Each representative and executive has to be sworn in. It's nothing scary, I promise. I'm going to read out the vow from the constitution and all you have to say is whether or not you accept or not," Leo said with an encouraging smile at the two freshman representatives that had been elected the previous Friday. "Ready?"

Piper zoned out as he went around the circle, flipping through the council binder, her mind fixated on the boy Dan had been picking on not five minutes before. Finally, Leo called out her name.

"Piper Halliwell, do you promise to fulfill the position of junior class representative to the best of your abilities, acting as the voice for all of the junior class, presenting yourself as a role model to the rest of the school and maintaining exemplary behaviour throughout the period of September to June? If so, please answer 'I agree'."

Piper took a deep breath, her head ready to say no. But as her eyes darted quickly around the room and landed on Dan's smirking face, there was no rejection in her voice. "I agree."

The smile Leo flashed her surprised her to no end. It was like he was glad she'd accepted the position.

"Excellent. Ladies and gentlemen, the new Student Council."

Piper stepped into the halls of Baker High an hour later, part of her still completely shell shocked at what she'd said. She'd just agreed to be junior representative. Her, a nobody, a person of no consequence. In her binder she now carried various resolutions for events and petitions. Her mind was still spinning at the events and she had to remind herself to breathe through the overwhelming idea.

"Piper, wait up."

If she had been fully aware of what was going on around her, she probably would have registered that it was Leo calling after her and would have kept walking. As it was, she turned to face the voice and it took the shaking of her head to unclog her ears so she could hear what he was saying.

"I'm glad you accepted," he said, his own bulging council binder under one arm.

Piper shot him a confused look. "Why?"

Leo shrugged. "You're not like everyone else on council. Maybe something will actually get done this year."

"What on earth are you talking about?" Piper asked in exasperation. "I went in there to turn down my council seat, to wipe my hands of all of this stuff and the next thing I know, that's not what's coming out of my mouth. Instead, I'm accepting the role when I probably won't have any time to actually fulfill the responsibilities I've apparently been elected to take on. And all you can say is you're glad I accepted the position?"

"Whoa," Leo said, holding up his hands. "Take a breath. It's not as bad as it seems."

"Leo, I've been at this school for two years. I'm entering my junior year in a school where no one knew me and someone thought it would be hilarious to see if the ghost girl could get elected to student council. Want to know why I ended up accepting this? Because I watched some kid get picked on by my co-representative. Needless to say while I was sitting there I realized that no matter whether I'm on council or not, I'm just one person. There's no way any real voices are going to get heard."

Leo blinked. Piper confused him. She was smart, that much he'd seen through the last two weeks of calculus, but she was shy. All he'd meant by the comment was that he was glad she was going to take a chance on council. And yet, she'd just finished chewing him out for her acceptance. He searched his mind for an appropriate response. "It's never too late to get involved."

Piper rolled her eyes. "You know what? You wouldn't get it. You've never been on the other side, with the dorks and the nerds and the geeks. You wouldn't know that the chemistry department doesn't have enough beakers for the Advanced Placement class, let alone the regular science classes. You wouldn't know that the library books are falling apart and the librarian has had to take most of them off of the shelves because they're too tattered for anyone to use."

Leo blinked. She was right, he didn't know any of this stuff.

"And I bet you had no idea that over half of the school budget goes to the athletic department every year. Want to know why?"

Actually, he didn't want to risk stopping her while she was on a role like this, but he nodded anyway.

"Because most of that council is made up of the athletic department."

Leo had never actually stopped to look at who council was made up of. He'd been elected to a position since his first year and he'd always taken for granted that these were the people that the school felt could best represent them.

Piper rolled her eyes when Leo didn't make a sound. "Exactly. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to share a test tube with eight other students."

Nick watched up to the stunned Leo as he watched Piper walk away. "Where on earth did that come from?" He hadn't seen Piper like that since she entered Baker High. He'd missed the spitfire Piper, especially in the letters he still got. He was like her diary, a position he took on with honour. Nothing about Piper ever left his mouth and, per her instructions, they didn't acknowledge each other in the halls.

Leo shook his head. "Heck if I know. According to the yearbook she's Prue Halliwell's sister."

Nick whistled lowly, grateful for a new subject and not having to talk about Piper anymore. He was bound to let something slip if they kept talking about her. "Remember Prue?"

"I remember she ran a tight ship," Leo offered.

"Its no wonder she's got a spitfire in her. Prue never let anyone step over her."

Leo turned to Nick with a smile. "I think things will be changing this year, Nick. I can feel it."

"I believe it," Nick agreed. "It looks like we're in for fireworks."


	4. Chapter 4: The First of Many Changes

Piper sighed as she looked over the agenda for the council meeting that day, rushing to try and make it in time. Athletics, athletics, athletics. Goodness gracious. September had been the same thing and the first two meetings of October had stuck to the same status quo. She was, quite frankly, totally sick of hearing about how the soccer balls had been destroyed by mice and needed to be replaced, or since one tennis racket had broken, the all needed to be replaced.

She was so absorbed in the agenda and her thoughts that she missed the person approaching from behind. She yelped, dropping her council binder and all of her papers when said person settled a hand on her shoulder.

"Sorry!" Nick apologized immediately, bending down to help her pick up her things. "Looks like you can concentrate just as hard as Leo."

Piper shot him a tired smiled. "Thanks, I think." It was still odd for her to see him on such a regular basis these days. It made her letters almost harder to write, knowing he knew much of her life as it was. Nevertheless, her work on council gave them both a chance to re-cement the friendship that had dwindled with Prue and Andy's break up.

Nick nodded, helping her pick up the pages she dropped, discretely tucking one into his own binder. He'd seen Piper work up a new budget in econ three weeks before and wondered if she'd ever have the guts to bring it forward. When nothing happened, he decided the best thing he could do is bring it forward for her. He'd been on the receiving end of some of the lacking departments at Baker High.

He looked her in the eye as he handed her the pages. "Can I ask you a frank question?"

Piper allowed him to fall into step with her, a little nervous. With all he knew about her and thus the number of questions he could ask that were highly personal she was nervous. "Sure."

"Why did you join council?"

Piper sighed. It was a question she had been debating with herself for a while now. She hadn't done anything, so why was she even still part of it? And it wasn't like she could lie to Nick. "Right now, I'm not sure."

Nick chuckled. "Okay, let me rephrase. What made you agree to hold the seat? No offense, you don't exactly fit."

_Which should give me an advantage_, Piper thought bitterly to herself. "I saw Dan pick on a kid not five minutes before I stepped in the room."

Nick nodded. Her answer was very 'Piper'. He'd always known she had a big heart and even bigger dreams and this just seemed to prove it. "You want to change things."

"I guess? I'm really not sure any more. I mean, I'm one person," Piper replied, candid for the hallway.

"One person can sometimes do a lot," Nick pointed out. "Look, Piper, regardless of the past you've had at the school, joining council to change things, when you didn't even nominate yourself and you didn't want to go through the whole thing, tells me you've got a huge heart. Politics will harden you, I guarantee that, but always remember why you started. Then the kids on council aren't always that intimidating."

Piper looked over at him as he held the door for her. "Thanks."

Nick smiled. "Talk later? After council? I had a few calculus questions anyway."

This time, Piper couldn't help but smile part of her glad they could actually talk in person again without her feeling like she was holding him down. "Sure."

Leo watched Piper enter with Nick, his suspicions up. Nick kept to his group and his work. He always claimed politics meant he was always working, always doing something, always advocating for something. Part of Leo sincerely hoped that he wasn't looking at Piper as someone to convert. However, he knew Nick better than that.

"What was that all about?" The council room was still fairly empty and Leo had to ensure to keep his voice low.

"What was what about?" Nick asked taking his seat, smiling at the over-eager, over-peppy female freshman representative.

"You and Piper."

Nick raised an eyebrow at his best friend. "Say what?"

"You and Piper. I didn't know you guys were chummy."

Nick wanted to grin. Leo sounded like a jealous boyfriend. "Is there something with you and Miss Halliwell, you're not telling me? And before you bite my head off, there's nothing between us. I wanted to ask her about calc and scared her. We walked the rest of the way here." Perfectly ambiguous while assuaging Leo's worries. "But I do have something I want you to look at. Preferably before the rest of the crew gets here." Nick withdrew the budget and slid it in front of his friend. "Your girl's been busy."

"She's not my girl," Leo murmured as he read over the altered numbers. "This cuts the athletic budget by almost 40. There's no way council will pass it."

Nick raised an eyebrow. "You give them a lot of credit, Leo. How many years has the budget been argued? Don't' say anything and it'll pass just fine."

"You support it?" Leo asked, slightly surprised. Nick had always followed the status quo and the presented budget, never arguing for more on behalf of any other department.

"I do," Nick answered confidently. "It's balanced, it's good. It'll probably improve the school as a whole and I know I wouldn't argue with that."

Leo smiled as he looked it over a second time. "Where the heck did this girl come from?"

"Who cares?" Nick responded. "Just be glad we've got someone on this council who's got their head on straight."

Leo looked up at Piper, quietly reading. "Amen to that."

"Amen to what?" Erin asked, plopping down beside him. Then, not waiting for an answer, said, "I've had such a hectic day."

Nick and Leo exchanged a glance.

"Really?" Nick asked with fake interest.

Leo rolled his eyes, waving over the council clerk in charge of doing all of their photocopying. Leo had run many a political campaign with Justin Cave and knew the kid was as politically minded as he was.

"My nail broke and I didn't have a nail file, not to mention now my nails _look terrible_. I found out I left my lip gloss at home and had to go home to get it during lunch. And Mr Treads yelled at me for not having my homework done and wouldn't accept that I have cheerleading practice five days a week! I can't always have my homework done," Erin said, pulling out the aforementioned lip gloss to apply it.

Leo and Nick nodded absently, both of them reading over the agenda to ignore her. Leo almost sighed out loud when he noticed the number of motions that had been put forward on behalf of Athletics. It was no wonder Piper had brought her entire backpack with her. By now they knew to count her as a 'no' vote for anything that had to do with athletics, so she brought work to do.

"Oh I know," came sophomore Zoe Chesterton's voice. "He can be so mean!"

Erin smiled at the girl for a brief second. "See?"

Leo rolled his eyes aware of the intense pressure there was on the cheerleading crowd to follow Erin's desires. He'd talked to Zoe briefly in the halls and had always found her a sweet girl corrupted by the system. But that had been her decision to make. "Alright, let's get started. We're going to move item one on the agenda because we're still waiting for the photocopies of the budget."

Dan rolled his eyes. "Can't we just vote on it? We all know it's going to get passed without debate."

Nick and Leo exchanged a glance.

"We have to debate it," came Piper's surprisingly strong voice. "It's in the constitution."

"Screw the consti- whatever you called it," Dan scoffed. "You're the only one who's going to oppose it anyway."

Piper glared.

"She's right," Nick spoke up. "Constitutionally we have to debate it." He scribbled something down on a piece of paper and waved at the 'page'. It was a way for students to get community hours, by volunteering to help at council meetings.

Piper glanced up in surprise when the girl stopped beside her with Nick's note. She opened it carefully.

_Trust me._

That was it? She did, of course, but he had so many more years on the council that she suspected he would go with what he knew. Trust him? Yeah right. And definitely not on the budget.

_Not a chance._

Nick shook his head slightly as life continued around him. This was stalling for just enough time to get the new photocopies and convince everyone that the budget was really too exasperating to debate anyway.

_Look, you dropped a bunch of folders when I bumped into you. I need you to trust me. Like you used to. I've got it all under control._

Piper's eyes widened as she caught on to where Nick was going. They had _her_ budget. The one with the cuts to the school sports teams and increasing funds to most of the other departments around Baker High. He was trying to get _her_ budget passed! Piper looked at him with sudden admiration. Maybe she really did stand a chance on this council.

Leo looked up as the new budgets came around. "Is there anyone who wants to speak for this?"

Erin raised her hand and stood without Leo's acknowledgement. "Year after year after year the budget has always been the same. There's no reason for changing it now when it fits so perfectly. And why waste time on something we know is going to go through anyway?"

Erin sat down and Leo shot a glance at Piper, expecting her hand to shoot up to speak against the budget. When it didn't he had to catch himself. "Anyone else?" No one else raised their hand. "Okay, we'll take it to a vote. All in favour?"

Almost every hand shot up.

"Against?"

Nothing.

"Abstaining?"

This time Piper raised her hand. She hadn't wanted to vote against a budget she indirectly put forward, but she was sure even the dim-witted Erin would have found something suspicious if she'd agreed to it.

"With pretty much everyone in favour the budget passes."

Piper had to hold in a grin as she flipped through the familiar numbers. Things were already changing. However, if these were the people that seriously represented the students to the larger administration, it was no wonder very little got done.

"On to the next order of business."

Nick grinned as he caught up to Piper after the meeting. "How'd you like that?"

Piper looked at him contemplatively for a moment. "Underhanded, but I have to admit, inspired."

He bowed in exaggeration. "Just doing my job."

She kept walking, unsurprised when he fell into step with her. "Why did you do it?"

"We've never had someone re-work the budget before. By the time the vice-president gets into office they're usually swamped with enough other stuff that the budget becomes secondary. Plus, putting it through council is so often just a rubber-stamping that no one usually cares."

"They've sure proven that," Piper agreed. "Where do you want to work?"

"Library?"

She blinked up at him innocently. "You know where that is?"

"Cute. Of course I do. The librarian knows me by name."

Piper blushed. "I have my own corner."

"The one opposite the make out corner?" He laughed when Piper's blush intensified and she nodded. "I'll keep that in mind. Is that where we're off to work then?"

"Sounds as good of a place as any. But my corner is sacred. There will be no defiling the corner." Piper was a completely different person when comfortable and the only people she was more comfortable with than Nick were Leila and her sisters. "The faster we get done the faster I get to start on my own work."

"You have a lot to do?" Nick asked, holding the library door for her.

"Like you would not believe."

He eyed her. "How many senior classes are you taking?"

"In total? Or this semester?" Piper responded, leading the way to the corner she used.

"Both."

"Uh… three this semester, four overall?"

Nick shook his head. "You're mental, Pippy, did you know that?"

Piper glared at the childhood nickname. "Don't call me Pippy."


	5. Chapter 5: The Green Monster

Leo was confused.

Nick swore there was nothing going on between him and Piper, and yet the two of them spent much more time together than he was starting to feel comfortable with. While he realized they had never held hands or exchanged kisses, or anything else that would blatantly tell him that there was something going on, he'd never seen Nick bond with someone so fast. It was a little disconcerting.

And, when he looked at it, confusing. He had his eye on college, knew exactly where his aim was and what scholarships he wanted. It made no sense that he was getting so worked up about his best friend's relationship with a girl he hardly knew. But therein was the crux of the issue. After all, Leo found Piper intriguing. There was so much about her he didn't know and so much he now wanted to.

He knew she was smart. It wasn't that hard to figure out, especially since he'd found out she shared not only their senior calculus class but also Nick's senior econ. He couldn't figure out what she wanted though. Between senior calc, econ, and chem he knew she was one of those over-smart girls. However, chemistry didn't fit with economics and none of them fit with calculus, not to mention her history course seemed a little out of left field. It seemed like she was all over the map.

He knew the enigma was attractive. He was knowledgeable enough of his own desires to see that the mystery that was Piper Halliwell was one he figured he'd enjoy. How much was there that he simply didn't know? He knew she worked hard. He knew she had a knack for talking to everyday people, anyone and everyone, and had figured out that her confidence had been long-buried. He knew she had one sister and knew that up until September very few people knew who she was. He knew that she had a big heart, something she'd proven by ranting the day she accepted her council position.

But those were all pretty superficial things and things he'd found out through investigation. What he really wanted was a chance to get to know Piper, one-on-one. The only problem was that Nick seemed to be monopolizing her time. Getting a chance to talk to her was looking like it was less and less likely to happen.

The perfect opportunity actually came from Nick.

"Hey man, what are you doing tonight?"

Leo raised an eyebrow at his friend. "I had homework on the agenda. Why?"

"Know that econ test that's coming up?"

Leo nodded. Since there was only one teacher for the economics and three classes a year, the tests were often the same. "What about it?"

Nick grinned. "Piper and I were going to get together after school at her place to study. Up for it?"

"Would she be okay with it?" Leo asked skeptically.

"She doesn't hate you if that's what you're aiming at. Piper's not like that."

Leo took the opening Nick had given her. "And how would you know?"

Nick tried to keep his grin at Leo's jealous tone inside. "Our families have been friends since we were kids. Prue and Andy dated for years."

"You've been friends with her this whole time? Why didn't you say anything?"

Nick nodded. "Piper's odd. I adore her, she's fantastic and one of my best and truest friends, but she was afraid that her bookish tendencies were going to hold me back. She's one of the few people that know my inspirations are totally political so she said as we came into Baker High that if she became a nobody, she was okay with that and I had to pretend not to know her."

"She knew?" Leo asked, referring to Piper's past position in the school's social hierarchy.

Nick shrugged. "She knows people. She doesn't look like it I mean, she's quiet and shy most of the time, but she knows people. She observes people and she can read them better than a lot of people I know. If I do make it in the political arena, there's no way I'm going to leave her behind. She could be such an asset with the people-reading thing."

Leo was still having a hard time processing it. "You've known her this whole time?"

"Well, yeah, but it's only recently we've started talking face-to-face again and she's been studying econ with me. Oh, and that last calc test? Definitely saved my tail on that one."

"What's she like?"

Nick blinked. "Huh?"

"Piper. I only know her from council. And from classes."

Nick couldn't help smiling this time. He'd wondered when he first saw Piper and Leo interact whether or not there would be a spark of attraction between them, but Piper had been tight-lipped, both out loud and through her letters. Leo had been a little bit more of an open book when it came to the brunette. "Come study with us."

Piper caught up with them before Leo could give his answer, waving slightly at Leo, her attention on Nick. "I heard you had a blow up yesterday?"

Nick rolled his eyes. "Yes, mother, with a student. Pip, you're sixteen, take a breath."

Piper glared. "I'm not the one who needs a spotless record Mr Next-President. Plus, who's going to keep you in line if I don't?"

"Um, the teachers? Come on, lighten up, just a bit."

Piper rolled her eyes, though Leo could tell there was affection behind it. The two were close.

"Are you guys still coming over after school?" she asked.

Leo was taken by surprise. "Both of us?"

Piper nodded trying to hide the blush she could feel creeping up her cheeks. "Why not? You're taking econ too. Nick said you'd be writing the test so…"

"Sure," Leo heard himself say.

"Great. I'll call Grams and let her know to expect two extra people?"

"Sounds good, Pip, thanks," Nick said with a one-armed hug.

"Alright, I have to go," Piper said, starting to speed up her pace. "My chem teacher wanted to talk about the lab that's coming up. We have to figure out how big our groups have to be."

Leo caught her arm trying to ignore the spark that shot up his fingers. From the look on her face, she felt it too. He cleared his throat. "I talked to Principal Colton and the science department is free to use the money your budget gives them to buy whatever they want whenever they want."

Piper blinked. "Thanks," she said softly. "They'll be ecstatic."

"You did it," he told her sincerely. "It was your budget."

Piper blushed at the praise. "Thanks. I have to run."

Nick couldn't stop his body-shaking laughter at the situation. "You're hopeless."

"What?"

"Leo, I've known you for how long?"

"Uh… seven years?"

Nick nodded. "Exactly, and I've never seen you react to a girl like you react to Piper."

"She seems like a nice girl."

"Come on, Leo," Nick said with a roll of his eyes. "You've known the girl for a month and half and you know nothing about her. It drives you nuts. Not to mention she's not the type to throw herself at you like most of the cheerleaders."

"The cheerleaders are Dan's arena, thanks," Leo said in disgust.

"Not the seniors," Nick disagreed. "And even outside the cheerleader ring, you've got girls trying to catch your attention no matter where you go. But Piper doesn't care about that."

"That doesn't mean anything."

"With you, it means a lot." They two boys stepped out into the cool San Francisco day, aiming for the picnic table that had been theirs since freshman year. "Look, man. Piper's one of my best friends, and I care about her a lot, so just… she's not like the cheerleaders and girls like that. You're right on the money when you say she's a nice girl. She's a great girl. Just… be careful."

"I don't want to date her," Leo contradicted. "I want to get to know her."

"Classic symptom one to Leo Wyatt's Path to Dating Success. I don't care, Leo, she and I know way too much about each other to ever even think about going down that road. That doesn't mean I won't protect her with everything in me."

"I'm not a threat to that, I promise."

Nick looked at his friend skeptically. "If you say so."

And Leo was sure. Or at least he thought he was. The conversation with Nick was starting him down a path of thought that'd he'd forbade himself from. It had nothing to do with the fact that she was younger - she was probably more mature than some of the girls he dealt with on a daily basis - and more because he didn't want to leave anyone behind. He'd seen enough people, both girls and guys, dropped around Thanksgiving because their significant other was older and off at college. He didn't want to do that to anyone.

However, he couldn't deny that Piper was attractive, and the way she acted around Nick, the way he brought her out of her shell, proved to him that there was an awesome girl under her quiet exterior. Actually, if it wasn't for her fear and dislike of the people on council, he was sure she would have submitted the budget herself instead of going through Nick. But there was so much about her that was a blank slate and it was that blank slate that he really wanted to see. There was more to her than met the eye, that much she'd proven.

Now it was just a matter of cracking that shell.

* * *

**_Okay, I know this is arguably moving at a snail's pace. It needs to. I guess this is the point where I tell you there's this story and then a sequel planned. This is really focusing on the developing relationship between Leo and Piper, focusing mostly on their friendship. There's going to be some cute little almost moments in here, but most of it's about Piper coming out of her shell and becoming the strong woman we see after Prue dies._**

**_  
The romance will come, just be patient._**


	6. Chapter 6: The Bonding in the Car

Piper closed her eyes as she waited outside the main entrance of Baker High. Her afternoon had been tolerable. The only frustrating part of it had really been the fact that her stomach had decided that it was the perfect time to practice it's Olympic-style back flips. She was more annoyed with the fact that she wasn't sure why it was happening than she was with the butterflies themselves, but the crux of the matter was that it had thrown off her concentration all afternoon. She was glad Nick was there to take good notes or she was sure she would have been slaughtered.

"Pip?"

Piper opened her eyes to glare at Nick. "What did I tell you about that name?"

"Oh come on. It's something that's ours from childhood. And it's not like I'm calling you-"

"Nicholas Trudeau, you say _that_ name and you can kiss your calculus mark goodbye."

"Ouch," Nick said, placing a hand on his chest. "That hurts."

Leo chuckled. "It's a good name."

"It's a child's nickname," Piper argued, feeling the butterflies come back full force. She almost groaned out loud when she finally realized that her stomach had been doing gymnastics because Leo was about to spend the afternoon at her house. "Prue's going to drive us home. She's coming back to do laundry, I think, and sleep in her own bed for a change."

Leo wrinkled his nose in apology. "I drove."

Nick felt the beginnings of a grin creep over his face. This couldn't have worked out better if he'd planned it. "Take Pip," he suggested as they made their way to the parking lot. "I'll ride with Prue."

"Again with the name!" Piper exclaimed in exasperation.

'I think it's cute," Leo said with a finality that let Piper know he'd made final decision. It looked like she was going to be 'Pip' and Piper wasn't sure she cared that much anymore.

Which was a dangerous discovery. She had no real idea what to think of her reaction to Leo. What she did know was that it didn't really matter, at the end of the day, because he was a senior and she was still a nobody. Or at least that's how she convinced herself that she was just being silly.

"What do you say? You okay to ride with Leo?"

Okay, of course she was. Comfortable was a different story entirely. "Sure," she found herself saying. "I'll just let Prue know." She waved at her sister from the edge of the parking lot and waited patiently for the elder Halliwell to bring the car around.

"Trudeau, Wyatt, nice to see you both again." Prue's voice sounded surprisingly formal for the situation. "How are you?"

"Good, Prue, and you?" Nick replied politely, opening the back door and throwing his bag in.

"At this point, a little confused."

Piper spoke up, "Leo and Nick are coming over to study for an economics test but Leo drove. I'm going to ride with Leo, if you can take Nick?"

Prue was about to make a comment about the usefulness of that considering the fact that Leo probably had enough room in his car for both Nick and Piper, but she felt a poke in her side and saw Nick's quick head shake. What was the boy planning? "That's fine. I have to wait for Pheebs though, so do you have a key?"

Piper started digging through her bag. "What happened?"

Prue sighed. "Heck if I know. Something about a teacher keeping her late to talk about a paper. That's all I could get out of her."

Piper rolled her eyes, though triumphantly removed her keys. "Got 'em. Leave it to Phoebe to get in trouble over a paper."

Prue mirrored her sister's eye roll. "We shouldn't be more than twenty minutes. You guys go on ahead. Grams should be home from shopping."

"Again?"

"You know as well as I do that the Trudeau boys would eat us out of house and home if they could. Grams was just preparing."

Piper grinned at Nick. "Grams knows you too well."

"It's not like Leo doesn't eat either!" Nick exclaimed in his own defense. "Why are you picking on me?"

"Its so much easier," Prue responded swiftly. "Sweetie, you go on ahead, we'll see you at home."

Meanwhile, Leo had watched the scene between the sisters with almost creepy fascination. He'd only dealt with both sisters in a professional capacity, but Piper seemed extremely relaxed when talking with Nick and her sister. He led the way when she waved him ahead.

"Who's Phoebe?"

Piper looked at him surprised. "Oh, sometimes I forget that Nick doesn't talk about me. Phoebe's my youngest sister."

"Do all of your family's names start with P?" he asked.

Piper took a moment to think about it. "From Grams down," she answered. "Penny, Patty, and then Prudence, Piper, Phoebe."

"Your parents liked the letter P," Leo said with a chuckle.

"It makes life confusing sometimes. There are four P Halliwells living at the same address, though Prue has a mailbox at school."

"Four?"

Piper smiled sadly. "My mother passed away."

Leo winced. "I'm sorry."

Piper shrugged, opening the passenger side door of Leo's car. "You didn't know."

The way she continued to keep her answers short told him the topic was a sore one. "Does Phoebe usually get in trouble?"

Piper rolled her eyes. "Usually."

"No where close to the angel of the family?" Leo inquired starting up the car.

"Far from it," Piper agreed. "But she's my sister."

Leo started up the car and pulled out of the parking lot. "It must be a pretty crowded house."

Piper shrugged. "Its not that bad. Prue's gone during the week, so it's just Phoebe and I. And Grams."

He wanted to ask about her father, but since her mother was a sore subject he decided it would probably be better to stay away from the older Halliwells.

"What about you?" she asked, surprising him. "Siblings?"

"None. Only child."

"You're pretty down to earth for an only child," she said and almost cursed herself.

He chuckled. "What does that mean?"

"I'm sorry, it's just… most people who are only children have 'Only Child Syndrome', you know? Right at the next street."

He nodded, understanding exactly what she was getting at. He waited until they were safely before speaking. "I don't get everything I want."

"It certainly seems like it."

He would have taken that offensively if she hadn't slapped her hands over her mouth after completing the sentence. Instead of getting angry, he smiled. "I work for what I get. This presidency, for example."

Piper had to give him that. His campaign had been aggressive, though she'd chalked that up to Nick's dire need to be in office. Which brought her to another question. "Why is Nick vice-president? Not that you don't make a good one."

"He didn't want the presidency," Leo said with a tinge of awe and lack of understanding. "He's the one that's so gung ho about it, and he didn't want it."

Piper furrowed her brow in confusion, pointing him down another street. "That doesn't sound like Nick. If he wants it, why not go for it."

"That's what I wanted to know," Leo agreed. "He and I had this discussion all through the nomination period, when we could change things around. But he insisted on being VP. Right or left?"

"Right," Piper answered with a smile, slightly amused with how their conversation was going. Interspersed with her directions was this conversation that baffled her. She'd never expected to be sitting in Leo Wyatt's car talking about a mutual friend. "Is vice president less work?"

Leo shook his head. "Arguably, it's more. Nick does a lot of the administrative stuff, the stuff that's all behind the scenes. Him and Erin."

"Erin works?" Piper couldn't help herself. The words were out of her mouth before she really realized they were going to. To her relief, Leo laughed.

"Erin takes social chair seriously," he told her. "Very seriously."

Piper hadn't considered things that way. But really, it made sense. "Next turn is Prescott Street."

"That's Nick's place."

Piper nodded. "We live down the street from each other. Hence the whole 'childhood friends' thing."

"You guys are still so close. How did you do it?"

Piper blushed. "We did it."

"There's no secret?"

"Of course there is, but if it's a secret, I can't tell." She was slightly grateful that he'd inadvertently given. For all intents and purposes they'd just met and the thought of Leo reading some of her letters should Nick have kept them. She had all of his responses in a box in the very back of her closet. She was surprisingly happy when he chuckled.

"It's a good thing," he told her seriously as he turned onto Prescott Street. "And your other friend?"

"Leila?" Piper questioned in surprise.

"Leila Brice. She's an interesting character."

Piper smiled affectionately. "She is. But she's Leila."

"She's one of the few students that's actually yelled at me for the way the school is run. And that was before I was president."

"Leila's a little… Overbearing?"

"Opinionated," Leo agreed.

"That too," Piper conceded sheepishly. "The Manor's my place."

Leo raised an eyebrow. "You live in the Manor?"

"It's been in my family for generations," Piper defended. It was true. Though many students at Baker High thought it was haunted, Piper loved it's little quirks. It was home to her.

"I'm not saying it's not a gorgeous house. Architecturally its sound and sturdy. When was the last time it was restored?"

Piper blinked. "No one's ever thought of the place like that. And I don't think it's ever been restored. Most people just think it's haunted."

"Haven't you learned that I'm not most people?" Leo asked as he pulled into the drive way.

"That's corny," Piper shot back as she got out of the car.

Leo just laughed.

* * *

**_Yay! First official PiperLeo bonding moment! Be happy people, it means we're finally past establishing Piper's place in the social hierarchy and on to developing friendships!_**


	7. Chapter 7: The First Wave

Piper was almost humming as she set foot on school grounds the next morning. She'd actually had fun studying for a test and she wasn't sure if she'd actually remembered anything they'd gone over. While she'd acted as the proverbial teacher, the boys acted like class clowns. Still it had been the most fun she'd had while studying in a long time. And it put her in a good mood as she almost skipped up the front steps.

Only to have her good mood come crashing down around her in the form of a terrible yearbook picture. Hurt raced through her system, but more so was the anger that threaded her veins. She wasn't naïve enough to think that she was liked around school, or even respected by the student body. But this was a new low, and it wasn't like she didn't have any idea who was behind it.

She took a deep breath as she stepped through the doors, preparing for the ridicule that was likely to slap her in the face. And yet, the students continued on their way, some of them ripping posters down as they walked past. Piper could do nothing but gawk at the events going on around her.

Upon realizing she looked stupid, she closed her mouth and continued on her way to her locker. It didn't surprise her that the entire thing was plastered with the posters. With a heavy sigh and her heart in her throat, she fumbled with her combination and opened the door.

"Morning," Leila said tentatively, leaning against the locker beside Piper's.

"Hey." Her happy balloon had been most effectively popped. "Where are they?"

"All around the school. Someone was busy."

Piper nodded.

"But people are ripping them down, people I don't even know. What on earth have you been doing?"

The girls fell into step, Piper's calc class was one hall away from Leila's English.

"Nothing that I can think of," Piper responded. "I'm just me."

"Huh. Well I don't think it's accomplishing what the person had in mind."

Piper sighed as she waved at Leila, stepping into her classroom.

"Well if it isn't the loser."

The anger came back full force. "You couldn't come up with something more creative? One too many hits on the head or have you never seen a book before?"

Erin's cheeks turned bright red at Piper's snappy comeback. "What makes you think you can get a makeover in the summer, come back and take over?"

"I wasn't thinking that at all," Piper pointed out with an innocent look on her face. "I didn't want the seat to begin with."

"Then why take it?" Erin sneered. "You've destroyed everything I've worked so hard to create."

"You can thank Dan for motivating me to take the seat," Piper said, a thrill running up her spine when Erin's eyes widened slightly. "He was the one that picked on someone right outside of the council room. If I hadn't been so frustrated with how the kid was treated, I probably would have turned down the seat."

Erin's mouth opened and closed. Piper took the opportunity to sit.

"Don't think I'm finished with you."

Every head in the room turned at Erin's high pitch. Her face had gone red. "No one, _no one_, is going to take this year from me. Especially not some little nobody who-"

"Enough, Erin."

Attention shifting again to the remarkably calm president, Piper almost wanted to roll her eyes. She could finish the argument herself.

"This is not the place to do this," Leo continued calmly.

"I'll do this wherever I want!" Erin screeched. "Can't you see what she's doing?"

Leo looked to Piper with a raised eyebrow. "She's sitting. I don't see anything wrong with that considering this is her classroom too. Sit down and calm down."

Erin's mouth gaped as Leo walked past and took his own seat. She expected Leo to take her side, to see what she was getting at, to see that having Piper Halliwell as a representative brought down the entire reputation of the government.

_Well,_ she thought to herself, _if I can't embarrass her into quitting, I'll do it myself._

* * *

Piper sighed as she made her way to her locker after classes. It had, quite simply, been one of those days. Between Erin's tantrum in calculus and the whispers around the cafeteria at lunch time, Piper was more than ready to head home to a nice quiet house where she could mope in peace. Maybe Grams would make her a batch of cookies after her horrible day.

A surprise waited for her at her locker, however. Stuffed in all of the cracks she could see were scraps of paper. She pulled one out and unfolded it.

_Don't let them hold you down._

Piper blinked. She could remember saying that to someone not three days before. She kept a mental track of the people she'd 'helped' since becoming a member of council and she could actually picture the face of the student she'd said that to. With shaking hands she pulled out a green piece of paper.

_They just do this to make themselves feel better._

Another lined piece read:_ You're worth putting our faith in._

She couldn't believe it. It baffled her. She was still, basically, a nobody and yet, it seemed like a whole bunch of people had gone to great lengths to keep her. Working on autopilot, she stuffed the rest of them into her bag along with the books she was going to need that night, and closed up her locker.

"Pip, have a sec?"

Piper looked up at Nick, her surprise still on her face. "Um, sure. Everything okay?"

"That's what I wanted to ask you. Leo told me about class this morning. Everything okay?"

"Um… Yeah. Yeah, I think so."

Nick doubted it. He waved his hand in front of her face. "Pippy, up here."

Piper glared and smacked his arm. "What did I tell you about calling me 'Pippy'?"

"I'm trying to make sure you're okay here," Nick protested. "I knew it was going to get your attention."

"Nick, seriously, I'm fine."

"After everything I've heard about what happened? Who are you and what have you done with Piper Halliwell?"

"I'm still me," Piper contradicted, showing him one of the pages. "I don't know what to think."

Nick smiled. "How about that you're important to people here?"

"You didn't have anything to do with this, did you? You didn't make people do it."

Nick shook her head. I don't know enough people and before you ask, it couldn't be Leo either. He's been too busy himself to orchestrate something like this. Maybe you're just important."

Piper scoffed. "Thanks for the thought, but yeah right. I've got to get going, I'll see you later."

Nick watched Piper leave, shaking his head. The girl had no idea the kind of loyalty she'd inspired in the student body just by being who she was. She didn't realize that these people put notes in her locker to give her a chance to believe in herself. But only time would tell the extent to which it had worked.


	8. Chapter 8: The Less than Necessary Vote

Prue had said to Piper the first day she dropped her off for high school that this would be her middle sister's first year of true freedom. This was going to be Piper's year to come out of her shell and shine, something both she and Phoebe had encouraged by their intense makeover of their in-home mediator. And Piper had to admit, the way things are going it certainly looked like Prue would be right.

It also looked like she was going to die in the process. She loved what she was doing, the senior courses and student council, but that didn't mean she was starting to wonder what she'd been on when she decided she could do it all. Then something would inevitably come up that she'd have to fight for and while she'd really only managed little victories that Erin and her cronies hadn't noticed, it made Piper feel good.

"Piper!"

The brunette had to do a double-take when she noticed the redhead weaving through the halls to get to her. "Zoe?"

"Oh, you remember me."

Piper looked at her. "Of course I do. You sit on council with me."

The younger girl blushed. "Well, I can't say I've ever outright supported anything of yours…"

"I can't say I'm surprised," Piper responded. "Can I help you with something?"

Zoe bit her lip. "Look, we're not all in Erin's clutches like you think."

That stopped Piper. "Sorry?"

"I know you think that Erin rules council, but that's not totally true. I mean, Leo hand-picked the freshmen reps, basically. You have allies on council. Other than Leo and Nick that is. You just have to give us a chance." With that, Zoe was gone.

"What was that all about?"

Piper shrugged. "No idea," she said for Leila's benefit. "She wanted me to know I have allies on council that I apparently am unaware of."

Leila raised an eyebrow. "You're kidding me."

"According to Zoe. Who is a sweet kid, I give her that."

"She's only a year younger than you," Leila pointed out. "And since when do you even acknowledge their existence?"

"Oh, I don't know," Piper responded, "When she gave me the chance to actually get something done through council and not underhandedly."

"Pip! Thank goodness I caught you."

Piper shot Leila a look. "Nick's doing, don't ask. Morning Leo."

"Look, Erin's called an emergency council meeting."

"Okay…" Piper trailed off.

"No one knows why. No one's saying anything," Leo continued, running a hand through his hair.

Piper rolled her eyes. "Stop being overdramatic. What's the problem?"

"Piper, she wants to kick you off council."

The brunette's only reaction was to stiffen. "That's what council's about?"

"That's the assumption. There's no other reason to call it."

Piper narrowed her eyes. Leo was one of the people she'd been able to read like a book from the first moment they bonded in his car on the way to her house. "There's a 'but' on the end of that."

Leo shrugged. "She needs two-thirds of council's vote as well as a petition of fifty student signatures."

"And she wouldn't bring it to council without the fifty signatures," Piper filled in with a nod. The only way she was staying calm was the fact that it hadn't fully sunk in yet. True, at the beginning she hadn't wanted to be there. She hadn't wanted to have anything to do with any of the people on that council. But now, now that she'd gotten involved, now that she's made a difference, she wasn't sure she was ready to give up the seat.

"I can't have that happen, Pip."

Piper looked up at Leo. "Huh?"

"I can't let that happen. You mean too much to this council, to this school, to be kicked off."

"I can't… I can't deal with this right now."

Leo wanted to reach out to her, to hug her. He'd known she'd find her niche on council, had a good idea of how strong she would be sitting at the table. He hadn't wanted this to happen.

_But you expected it. In fact, you expected it sooner,_ he chided himself. He should have prepared for this eventuality. He should have known that Erin would start attacking Piper. And at the moment, Erin didn't know of the 40 budget cut to athletics. Leo knew the blow up following that would be worthy of a hurricane.

Now all he had to hope was that some sort of miracle would pop up just in time.

Leila sat with Piper on a bench outside the school. Leila had been against Piper's acceptance from the start and Piper had known that, but both of them over the course of the last three months had grown used to Piper's  presence on the council and the things she had to do. Leila had actually started supporting the things Piper wanted to do and had contributed a few ideas of her own into the mix.

As the best friend, it was Leila's responsibility to look out for Piper when no one else could. This was one of those times where Leila knew Piper had no one else. Sure, she wasn't the best student and probably shouldn't be skipping her first period English, but friends came first. Leila had watched Piper grow used to the people on council. She'd watched council bring out a different Piper than she was used to. She'd watched as people went from confusion at seeing her to waving at her as she passed and Leila had been surprisingly proud of her once-mousy friend.

It didn't change her mind about council as a whole. Leila still hated the student government and by default most of everything that went along with it, but Piper enjoyed it and Piper was a different person because of it. The redhead had always known her brunette best friend had a huge heart. Piper had always been there for her, regardless of the issue, regardless of what Piper was doing at the time. Leila knew she had a special and true friend in Piper. And it tore her apart to see Piper so confused.

Piper was quiet as she sat, her arms wrapped around her middle, her eyes glazed over in thought. Leila knew Piper had a decision to make right here and now. If she wanted the seat, she was going to have to put some heck of a speech together in a couple of hours. If she didn't, she could leave it alone.

Finally, Piper took a deep breath. "I always knew she would do something like this."

"Erin?"

Piper nodded. "She hated me from day one, from the moment I talked to Lacey."

"But-"

"But nothing. There's nothing we can do. I don't stand a chance. She's got the entirety of council in the palm of her hand, regardless of what I've done or what my record looks like."

Leila blinked. It had been a long time since she'd seen Piper's dejected face like she did now. In fact, the only time Leila could remember seeing it was the day Piper resigned herself to being the nobody she predicted within the Baker High social scale. The day she and Piper had become friends.

Part of Leila wanted to agree and tell her to just shove it. She wanted to tell Piper she was never meant for council, never meant for that group of people. But that wasn't very best friend-ly. "You've done so much through that thing and you're just going to give up?"

"I don't have a choice."

As much as Leila wanted to agree, she didn't like the heartbreaking tears that were starting to pool in Piper's eyes. Piper had really fallen in love with being an advocate, no matter how much she complained about it. She liked being able to pitch in, to lend a hand, to help people wherever she could. Council had let her do that, had let her stand up for people who hadn't had a voice in the school for years. Piper had thrived in that atmosphere.  Leila was sure Piper wasn't ready to give that up.

Piper sighed. "Look, you need to head to class. I'll be fine. And I'll be around for the meeting at lunch."

"What are you going to do?"

Piper looked up, trying to keep the tears at bay. "I'm just going to take a break. Everything will be fine."

Leila had nothing to argue back. All she could do was sigh, nod and head back into the school. Piper hung her head, the tears dripping out of her eyes. She had no idea why she was reacting so strongly. But she took a deep breath, wiping her eyes and stood. She needed to clear her head before stepping into that council room in an hour and a half.

Because she was going to need all the emotional strength she could get.

Leo was going crazy. Piper wasn't around and he'd tried her cell and Grams at home. Even Prue. His foot was tapping, his brain in overload and Nick was pacing behind him. They'd seen the agenda for the meeting, they knew that Erin was in deed planning to do, and neither of them was particularly comfortable with the idea.

"Leo, we can't wait any longer," Nick murmured on one of his laps.

Leo sighed. "Okay, guys. Let's get this meeting started. I believe Erin has a motion to bring forward."

Erin stood. "We have a problem. The students have signed a petition to have one of us removed. Ironically, that person is not in attendance. Now, the constitution allows for the person to present an argument as to why they should stay but-"

"I don't have to," came Piper's voice from the doorway. "My record speaks for itself."

Leo was so thankful to see her and, if Nick's newly slumping shoulders were any indication, so was he. She looked remarkably calm for the situation and Leo had to wonder if she had decided that she was comfortable with whatever outcome council decided.

"Your record is what got you here in the first place," Erin retorted with a smirk. "The student body feels you fight with all of council and screw with the harmony of the school."

Piper didn't respond, just stood in the doorway, arms crossed.

Leo cleared his throat. "Seeing no other arguments for or against the motion let's call a vote. Everyone find a scrap of paper. We're going to do this by secret ballot. I'd like to remind you that this requires a two-thirds majority to pass."

Piper stood in the doorway, holding her breath. She cared about what this vote said, that much she had admitted to herself as  she walked through the nearby neighbourhood. She wanted to stay where she was, wanted to continue doing what she was doing.

Leo collected the papers, handing them to the clerk to count. He too held his breath. Piper had become a useful and valuable member of the student government and he would hate to see it all fall to waste because of a little bit of underhanded intimidation. He closed his eyes briefly as the results were set in front of him.

And almost cheered when he saw them. "With six votes in favour and five against, the motion to force Piper Halliwell to resign her seat on Baker High's student council fails."

Piper felt her knees collapse from underneath her and managed to catch herself on the doorway before she fell. Erin was livid, her mouth open in shock.

"No way!"

Leo felt the relief in his system dissipate fast with Erin's exclamation. He hadn't prepared himself for this eventuality, hadn't even considered the fact that Piper may actually get to stay. He had no idea what to do. Much to his surprise, it was one of Erin's friends that spoke up.

"Not here, not now," senior rep Sienna said calmly. "Let's go."

Nick had gone to Piper when he saw her knees collapse and managed to get her to a chair. Thus, when Erin passed, all she could do was glare.

"This isn't over."

Piper met her gaze head on. "You can bet on it."


	9. Chapter 9: The Cute Christmas Presents

Piper hadn't realized Christmas was coming. Between school and her work for council, she'd been too busy to consider that there was another holiday coming up, a holiday that she was bound to actually relax on. There were few holidays Piper loved more than Christmas. It wasn't until the week before school was supposed to let out that Leila clued her in.

"What are you doing for the holidays?" The girls were sitting in the halls by their lockers, avoiding the crazy bustle of the cafeteria and taking some time to breath. To Leila, breathing was a luxury in Piper's life and she intended to make sure her friend did as much of it as possible.

"The holidays?"

Leila almost groaned. "Get your head out of the sand, Piper! Take a peek at everything around you. Slow the heck _down_."

Piper smiled. It had virtually become Leila's motto when it came to Piper's hectic schedule and every time, Piper answered a variation of the same thing. "You were the one that had all of these plans about what I could do for the students. I can't slow down."

"The Christmas holidays start Monday," Leila sighed. "Plans?"

"Oh my goodness, this is the last week before Christmas? Where did the time go?"

"Into everyone else," Leila grumbled. "Are you going to be able to make time for me over the holidays, Miss Important?"

Piper shot Leila a look. "Of course I will. Two weeks with no school or council, I'm sure I can fit you in."

Leila rolled her eyes. "Is Prue coming home?"

Piper nodded. "Actually she's been going stir crazy around the house for the last week since her fall finals finished. The house is no longer quiet."

"Prue and Phoebe?"

"And Grams. I've locked myself in my room to try and get some of these January assignments done. It's not an easy task."

"You are going to take a break over Christmas, right? Maybe take 48 hours and not do any work?"

Piper laughed at the apprehension in Leila's voice. "I won't make any promises. Finals are at the end of January and with 3 senior classes I've got a lot of studying to do."

"Piper!" Leila whined.

"Whining doesn't work, Leila."

"Damn it Piper! If you don't take some time off you're going to run yourself into the ground come finals," Leila exploded. "Take a breath every once in a while. Hang out with your neglected friends so they don't feel like absolute friendless losers."

Piper's eyes widened. "Leila! You're not a friendless loser!"

"Thank you, for immediately jumping to my short comings. Way to give a girl a complex."

"You're being overdramatic," Piper responded with a roll of her eyes. "Plus, you were my only friend before council so I'm assuming you're the one feeling neglected."

Leila gave an exaggerated sigh. "Can you blame me? I mean, we don't have any classes together this semester-"

"History," Piper corrected.

"You don't even sit by me in that class because you came late to the first one," Leila admonished.

Piper rolled her eyes. "As I remember, you're the one that came late, and so what?"

"You study with Nick and Leo so much more than you spend time with me. I'm lucky to get you for five minutes during the lunch hour in between errands you're running."

"Leila, that's not…" Piper stopped herself as she thought about it. Actually, it was very true and Piper simply had not realized how little time she was now spending with her once-best friend. She groaned.

Leila grinned triumphantly. "Exactly. All I want is some time with my friend, is that too much to ask?"

"Leila, I'm so, so sorry," Piper apologized, dropping her head in her hands.

"Hey, it's okay, I guess," Leila responded with a shrug.

"Look, I'll make sure to put a day aside where we can do something, okay? And I promised you we'd study for the history final together no matter what and we will."

"That's not-"

But Piper was once again preoccupied. "I have to go. I've got to talk to Principal Colton about a charity fundraiser we're thinking of doing. Well, I'm thinking about but I think Zoe's going to present it to Erin. Heaven knows she'll turn down any of my suggestions."

Leila sighed as she watched Piper race off. It wasn't that she was angry at her friend, but she resented the position to which Piper had risen. She couldn't remember the last time they'd actually spent time together where Piper didn't have to race off and do something else. She was either busy with assignments or she was busy talking to teachers or administration to get something done for government. Leila wasn't sure she knew her friend anymore. Part of her had wanted Piper to lose her seat a month ago. It would have meant that Piper could come back to the same person she'd been before going to New England for the summer. She resented the situation, hated Leo and Nick on principle for stealing Piper away on a more regular basis. She'd felt a little shafted when she found out Piper had known Nick for ages and it seemed like they had been friends even through the years they hadn't talked face to face.

Leila hated it.

"Leila?"

The redhead looked up in surprise to find Nick standing there, the one person she was probably more angry at than council. "What do you want?"

"A chance to talk to you."

Leila raised an eyebrow as he took a seat beside her,

"Look, buddy, I'm not interested."

"I'm not here to hit on you. No offense, but you're radical opinionated way isn't usually my style."

That caught Leila's attention. "No?"

"Not at all. But I know Piper and I know she's not happy with having to live two different lives," Nick responded. "She's been busy and I know she hasn't been spending time with you."

Leila sighed, standing again. "Can we not talk about it? Seriously? Because it's essentially your fault she's not spending time with me in the first place."

"I'm not asking her to do what she's doing," Nick defended.

"No, but the fact that you're not stopping her, that you're not assigning this stuff to other people means you're as guilty as she is." Leila left, her head held high, her heart beating rapidly. She'd stood up to people before but as the stereotypical advocate of the less-known causes. She'd never had to defend Piper before and never to someone Piper knew as well as she knew Nick.

And somewhere inside her it felt really good. She hoped that this would mean they would take some of the pressure off of Piper's shoulders and give some responsibility to someone else. Piper had started the change, but as she'd once said, she was only one person. She couldn't make the million changes the school needed on her own. She had other things to do and other goals in her life. While her grades had yet to drop, Leila was sure that if Piper kept going at the speed she was, they were going to crash hard. As her friend, that was Leila's number one priority. It was just a matter of getting people to listen.

* * *

The rest of the week passed Piper in a blur and before she knew it, it was Friday, teaching was essentially cancelled and she felt like she needed a serious fourteen hour nap. She stepped out of the guidance office - there had been a frustrating conflict with her second semester classes she'd had to straighten out - preparing to head home and start on that endless nap when Leo caught up with her.

"Merry Christmas."

Piper mirrored his wide smile. Over the course of the last two months they'd been able to bond and he'd started haunting her thoughts more often than she would have liked. He'd distracted her more often than she liked from her work and from her classes and she wasn't exactly sure why. "We're not quite there yet."

"You've had lectures today?"

Piper laughed. "No."

"Then Merry Christmas."

Piper shook her head. "Merry Christmas."

"Holiday plans?"

Piper shrugged, feeling her cheeks redden when his arm brushed against hers. "Family mainly, but Leila and I are going to do something."

"Are you going to try to relax?"

"What's that?" Piper asked with a coy smile. "And you could do with some of the same."

Leo smiled in return. "I will if you will."

"I plan to," Piper sighed. "Leila's getting mad at me for starting to stress myself out."

"You thrive on stress," Leo responded with an adorably confused wrinkle of the brow.

"So I've learned," Piper agreed. "Doesn't mean my friends and family aren't worried I'm going to burn out."

Leo nodded. "Christmas will be a good break."

She mirrored his nod and smile up at him. "What about you?"

"Family. Not much else for me to do. And get my applications in for college."

Piper nodded. "Sounds like you're in for about as relaxing a holiday as I am."

He shrugged. "Very possible Miss Over-Achiever."

Piper felt herself blushing even redder.

Leo laughed heartily. She was adorable when embarrassed and the blushing was something more than endeared her to him. He'd allowed himself to admit he had a crush but that was about as far as he'd let himself go. Anything further than that, allowing himself to think of her as anything more than a friend he also happened to be attracted to was dangerous for him, but more specifically dangerous for her, He wasn't going to leave her behind when he went away, he couldn't make himself do it. But he'd keep her as close as he'd let himself. She was a genuine friend and a kind heart. Even some of the council members that had been prejudiced against her in the beginning were waving at her and saving her seats at meetings.

"Hey," he remembered. "I have something for you."

Piper's eyes widened. She'd picked up a book he'd said he wanted and wrapped it up, but she'd meant to just leave it by his locker or in his council mailbox in the office. Now she didn't feel as embarrassed about getting him a Christmas gift. 'Really?"

"Of course. Come on."

She followed him to his locker, swinging her bag off of her shoulder so she could grab his gift from her bag as well. He presented her with a square wrapped in white snowflake paper. She looked up at him suspiciously. "This isn't going to attack me when I open it, is it?"

Leo smiled and shook his head. "I doubt it. I'm pretty sure it's completely safe."

"Just pretty sure?"

"Just open the present."

Piper had always been obsessive about her present opening, especially when the paper was as beautiful as this was. She slipped her fingers under the tape until the paper came off in one beautiful square. But the paper fluttered forgotten to the floor when she caught sight of the gift itself. "You didn't."

Leo grinned at the stunned look on her face. It had been the goal he was aiming for and it hadn't taken him long to find it. One thing he'd learned about Piper Halliwell was that she didn't usually do things for herself. She rarely asked anyone for things she felt were little and, with two other sisters, rarely asked her grandmother for anything that couldn't be shared between all three of them.

But she'd confessed to him through one of their conversations that her all time favourite book was Louisa May Alcott's Little Women. She'd gotten it from the library too many times to count and had just never asked her family for her own copy of it.

"I did."

"Leo this is… Perfect."

He grinned wider when she threw her arms around his neck, book and all, to hug him tightly and felt his chin drop when she pressed a quick and chaste kiss to his cheek. The blush on her face told him it had been impulsive and he had to reign in his own need to pull her back against his body.

"It's nothing," he protested. And since she still had that goofy grin on her face, it really was nothing."

She sighed. "Well, mine isn't as thoughtful."

Leo raised an eyebrow. The fact that she'd gotten him anything was enough to trigger a thank you. He took the gift and tore into it, the exact opposite as to how Piper had opened her gift. All the President's Men fell out of the paper into his hand and he grinned at her, "How did you know I wanted to read this book?"

Piper shrugged. "Nick let something slip during one of his political rants. He said you were thinking of doing something in politics on the whole Watergate thing…"

"Either that or the AIDS epidemic," he murmured. "Pip, this is great."

"You really like it?" she asked nervously.

He grinned and nodded. "I really like it. You didn't have to."

"Well now I'm glad I did," she replied, holding Little Women up briefly. "I'd have felt terrible if you'd gotten me a Christmas present and I hadn't gotten one for you."

_God, she's adorable_, he thought to himself. "Come on, I'll walk you out."

* * *

**_Okay, so we'll just toss in a little bit of fluff for good measure. I wasn't exactly sure what I thought about this when I wrote it so let me know what you think! With exams coming there's either going to be lots of updates, or only a few, it completely depends on how comfortable I am with the exam subject matter. That's my warning!_**


	10. Chapter 10: The Hierarchal Truce

With the Christmas holidays now over, school was up and running again and Piper was stressed. It was natural for her, something she was so used to. She'd always put too much on her plate, whether it was around her community or pushing herself at school, Piper never lived without stress.

But council had added to that. She now felt like she was everyone's advocate. If it wasn't the academic quiz team it was the English department looking for Shakespeare books. It wasn't that she didn't like being an advocate, it was more like it put a lot more pressure on her than even she was used to. All nighters went from an occasional thing to a regular thing and Piper was exhausted on a regular basis.

_Lucky for council my grades haven't dropped_, Piper thought to herself as she gathered her binders from her locker. It was always the way she lived her life. Above all else, her education came first. But it had meant many a lunch time curled up in a corner of the library trying to finish her textbook reading, calculus assignment or chem lab.

But Leo didn't know that.

In fact, as he raced his way through the hallways, he actually had no idea where she would be hiding. And he needed her. He prided himself on being diplomatic, but he had no idea how to talk to half of the departments in the school. He didn't have Piper's ability to communicate with anyone and everyone.

He'd asked almost everyone and regardless of what she'd done for them, he was surprised to find that very few people, even now, knew who she was. He was getting annoyed. Where on earth could she be?

He almost slapped himself in the head when he walked by the library. He pushed open the doors only absently noticing how the din of the halls softened almost immediately. He cautiously approached the desk, aware that the librarian knew who he was -- he did his research too and often used the library - but unsure of how she'd react.

"Can I help you Mr Wyatt?"

Leo smiled at the matronly lady. "I'm looking for a student actually. Has Piper Halliwell come in here?" To his surprise, the librarian glared.

"Are you going to interrupt her? The poor girl looked absolutely harried when she came in here earlier, probably to hide from all she has to do. Have to taken a look in that planner of hers, Mr Wyatt?"

Leo blinked. He hadn't expected to get a lecture from the elderly woman. "I… I haven't no."

The librarian sighed. "She's in the back corner. _Her_ corner. And when I went to check on her she was fast asleep. You had better have a good reason for waking her up."

Leo immediately felt guilty, even as he made his way through the bookshelves to the only back corner the librarian could have been talking about. There were two corners in the library, but Leo figured Piper was smarter than to go for the one where students went to make out.

Piper was curled up in a ball on her side, books strewn around her, backpack open and stuffed to it's bursting point. Leo sighed. Apparently Piper was working much harder than her body could handle.

And there, lying in front of her, was the fabled day planner. With delicate hands, he picked it up from the floor, noticing that the school's generic calendar book was much, much fuller than any he'd ever seen. He flipped through it absently until he reached that week and almost winced. He was glad to see she had no papers overdue or tests she'd missed, but the million post it notes scattered over the seven days scared even him.

He sighed. It was January and she was massively stressed.

She had been racing around lately and he'd felt terrible that she seemed to be fighting for everyone and anyone without much support. Even if her course load was about to change substantially - if the second semester schedule in the back of her planner was anything to go by - with everything she'd been volunteering for on behalf of council the stress was unlikely to let up. He closed the planner carefully, putting it back as close to where he could remember picking it up as possible.

He had some thinking to do.

"Piper come on, get up."

Piper groaned. "Five more minutes."

"You don't have five minutes. You're ten minutes late already."

That got Piper up fast, so fast that she knocked Leila onto her rear. "I'm late?"

"You're going to have to go to the office for a late slip."

Piper dropped her head into her hands. "Are you serious?"

"You're ten minutes late for history."

"So you mean to tell me I slept through my lunch hour instead of working on my chem lab or calc assignment and missed the first ten minutes of history?" Piper asked.

"Um… Yes?"

Piper groaned again. "Why me? Seriously, why me?"

"Because you are doing way too much? When was the last time you slept a full night?"

Piper narrowed her eyes in thought. "Um…"

"See, the fact that you had to think about it speaks for itself. Piper, you need to sleep," Leila lectured.

"I can't sleep! I have way too much to do."

"Exactly!" Leila exclaimed. "Ever think of delegating?"

"To council? I can't, Leila, you know that. Who is going to do it?"

"You've got to do _something_, Piper. You can't keep going on like this."

Piper shook her head, brown hair draping her shoulders. "I can't do this. I'm late for class and I'm behind on my assignments." Piper stood up, gathering up as many papers as she could. Her feet stumbled where she tried to stand and Leila caught her as best she could.

"You're running yourself ragged," Leila huffed as she helped Piper grab the rest of her things. "You're going to have to take a break some time, somehow."

"Not now. I can't afford to."

"You can always afford to," Leila replied. "Everyone can _always_ afford to take a break. Especially when you do stupid things like this. Piper, you're going to kill yourself."

"I am not. I'm going to be all right, I promise."

Leila watched Piper scurry off and sighed. This was getting so much worse than Leila had ever thought it would. Which meant it was time to take drastic measures.

"Trudeau."

Nick paused, surprised at the voice. "That's old school."

Leila sighed. "Okay, Nick. We need to talk."

"We do?"

"It's about Piper." Leila had known that if he was apprehensive about talking to her, bringing up Piper would inevitably catch his attention.

"What's wrong? Is she okay?"

"Technically, yes. Really, no, not really."

Nick caught her arm and pulled her to the side of the hallway. "Explain."

"She's nuts," Leila said bluntly.

"Okay…"

Leila rolled her eyes. "Look, Piper's got way too much on her plate. She can't deal with it all, she can barely deal with her school work right now. She was fifteen minutes late for history, and you want to know why?"

Nick blinked. She was starting to scare him. "Why?"

"Because she fell asleep in the library trying to get some c-subject finished. She fell asleep. In the library. Why? Because she's not sleeping at night. Why? Because she's way too busy to sleep. Why? Because she has way too much to do to find time to sleep."

"I don't understand what that has to do with me."

"Her planner."

Both teens looked up to see Leo leaning on the locker nearby. "I saw her planner. We didn't know."

"You guys call yourselves her friends and you didn't know?" Leila scoffed. "I find that hard to believe."

"You're not getting a choice," Leo responded. "Look, Leila, I know you don't like us, and in some respects, from what I've heard from Piper, I don't blame you, but right now we're going to have to try and work together to take some of this stress off of her shoulders."

Leila paused. "I'm listening."


	11. Chapter 11: The Culmination of Panic

Piper was starting to panic. It had been happening more and more recently as deadlines loomed closer for the large majority of her assignments, but Piper had always thrived under stress. This, however, seemed to want to kill her. She looked at the clock on her desk and felt tears spring to her eyes. It was the second week now she hadn't been to bed before 4am and it was starting to have a terrible effect on her system and moods.

The panic attack she'd had when Leila had come to get her from the library had only been the tip of the ice berg. Since then, she'd panicked about forgetting homework, missing tests, staying too late at the library and missing her chores.

When she did book herself eight hours of sleep, her brain tended to keep whirring and she didn't get to sleep more than five or six hours. She'd been able to hide things, tamp down the nervousness while at school and around her colleagues and so maintained the perfect façade at school.

But she could feel herself starting to lose it. She could only think of one person who could quite possibly have any idea of what she was going throuh and she knew Prue wouldn't kill her over the phone. The fact that her panicked fingers had dialled before her brain caught up with the fact that it was way too early or too late to be calling anyone came secondary.

"This had better be damned good at 4am," Prue grumbled into the phone when she picked up.

"Prue…" That was as far as she got before the panic attack completely caught up to her and the tears started pouring down her face, choking off her voice.

"Piper? What's wrong, honey, what's going on?" Prue was wide awake now, sitting up in bed with the phone pressed to her ear. "Sweetie, I need you to tell me what's going on."

Piper took a deep breath as her panic declined, wiping her eyes on the sleeve of her sweatshirt. "How did you do it?"

"Do what? And what are you doing up at 4am?"

"I have a physics lab due tomorrow."

Prue really didn't need to hear anymore to understand. "Honey, are you stretching yourself too thin?" Piper had always had the unfortunate habit of doing everything and anything, sacrificing herself for what she felt was the better cause.

"No," Piper denied. "I just… I haven't found the balance."

"You've overstressed yourself," Prue said bluntly.

"How did you do it?" Piper asked in a small voice.

Prue chuckled. "I didn't take senior classes in my junior year as well as becoming an advocate for everyone in the school that never had a voice before. I didn't try to change the school in a single year as one person. Honey, our situations are very different." She paused. "Have you considered saying 'no' every once in a while?"

"I can't," Piper answered, her voice becoming panicked again.

"There are other people on council that can do things. You don't have to do it yourself," Prue said soothingly.

"They don't care!" Piper exclaimed. "They never care."

"You don't know that," Prue answered. "I think you'd be surprised at the people who get involved."

"Everyone says that!" Piper burst out.

"And have you tested that?" Piper asked calmly.

"No."

Prue almost chuckled at the pout she could essentially hear over the phone. "I've never known you to judge first and ask questions later."

"Prue, you said it yourself, it's not the same."

"Then how am I going to help you?" Prue sighed. "Go to bed. Sleep for a few hours, pick your lab back up tomorrow morning. Panicking isn't going to help you finish tonight and you're too tired."

Piper sniffled. "I can't. I'm not finished."

"And you're going to get less sleep if you try and finish it tonight, honey," Prue encouraged. "Go to sleep. Everything will be okay."

Prue knew she wasn't going to get back to sleep until she knew something was going to happen to help Piper with the stress. Part of her wasn't surprised her younger sister had got herself tangled neck deep in things, nor did it surprise her that she'd stretched herself overly thin this time. Nevertheless, Prue had her own ways to help her sister and though she couldn't do it with Piper's knowledge, she knew some people who could most definitely help.

She dialed again, her fingers drumming on her thigh as she waited for him to pick up on the other end. "Andy? Perfect, I'm going to need your help with something…"

* * *

Nick still felt he was in some sort of crazy vortex. No one called in the morning. Ever. Unless it was for his parents. Leo would just catch him before first period and everyone else had other ways to get in touch with him. But the phone had rung shrilly and early that morning and it had been for him.

His brother Andy calling about Piper became the second odd part of the morning.

"Prue didn't want to call before you woke up," Andy had said when Nick had picked up the phone.

_"Why does Prue want to talk to me?" He hadn't eaten breakfast, hadn't had time to even hit the bathroom before Andy had called._

_"It's about Piper."_

_"Is she okay?"_

_"According to Prue no, but okay is a relative term."_

_"Stress?"_

_"Apparently."_

_Nick sighed. "She has been," he acknowledged. "Her friend came to talk to me about it the other day."_

_"Prue's panicking."_

_"And you care, isn't that cute," Nick teased. He knew Prue and Andy, regardless of the fact that they'd split at graduation, were very much still in like with each other. There would be no other reason for Prue to go straight to Andy about all of this._

_"Not the time," Andy growled. "I'm passing on a message, otherwise she would have called and woken the entire house at 4am."_

_"Thank you."_

_"Don't thank me. What the heck is she doing?"_

_"Same thing Prue did in a different way," Nick answered smiling at his mother as he entered the kitchen. "Where Prue did cheerleading and you, Piper's got senior courses."_

_"Fix it, will you? 4am is too early no matter who's calling."_

_Nick chuckled. "You're just upset she didn't call to get some."_

_"Okay!" Andy exclaimed. "You're the younger sibling. I'm not going there with you."_

_"I'll see what I can do. Between Leila, Leo and I we should be able to get something done, take some pressure off of her," Nick promised. "Prue shouldn't be calling you for anything but-"_

_"Finish that sentence and I come home to kick your ass."_

_Nick laughed._

Now, he made his way through the halls to try and find Leo or Leila. If Andy was calling him before school there was something ridiculously wrong and Nick cared enough about Piper to want to deal with it.

And he knew it had to be dealt with fast.


	12. Chapter 12: The Stress Relief Conspiracy

"So what are we going to do?"

It was a seemingly ragtag group of people that had crowded into the yearbook office. Leo and Nick stood at the front of the room, heading a meeting they'd pulled together on Piper's behalf. Leila was there, as the best friend, so were her co-workers, both sophomore representatives Zoe Chesterton and Cooper Skelding, as well as Camy Fett and Tyson Anifo, the freshman council.

"We have to do something," Leila spoke up strongly. "She can't keep going like this."

"We're going to have to pool our resources," Leo responded coolly. "Does anyone remember what she was planning to do for the next meeting?"

"Erin told her to do something," Zoe volunteered. "I can't remember what it was."

"Well that's helpful," Leila responded sarcastically.

"That's not what we need," Leo said calmly. "We need to figure out how we're going to take some of the pressure off of her."

"Divide what she was doing," Leila said.

"No one knows what she was supposed to do," Nick reminded her.

"We're going to have to guess. We have to do _something_," Leo responded.

It was getting absolutely nowhere. Leila took a deep breath, reminding herself that she'd gone to Nick first. She had been so worried about Piper that she'd gone to her last resort. She knew Nick cared about Piper and figured he'd probably do anything for her. Then something hit her. "Her planner."

"What about it?" someone asked.

"We need her planner," Leila elaborated. "That's the only way we're going to get anything done."

Leo caught on. "She's got everything super-organized. Everything is all written out in that thing."

"She doesn't let it out of her sight. There's no way we're going to get a handle on it," Nick pointed out. "There's nothing we can do."

"Someone's got to be able to do it," Zoe said. "You're close." she waved to Leila. "You do it."

"Are you kidding me? She's violent when it comes to that thing. And I value all of my limbs exactly the way they are, thanks," Leila replied.

"I picked it up just fine," Leo said. "I still have all of my limbs."

Nick looked around. "So we agree? We need to get a hand on her planner."

"Just to photocopy a few pages," Leo agreed. "And we've got less than a week to do it. I'll get the planner; you guys keep trying to remember what the heck Piper was supposed to do. Check the minutes of the last meeting; check whatever you can think of. She's one of council's best assets and I don't want to lose her to stress."

Leo sighed as he wandered through the halls, trying to find Piper. It had been three days and they had yet to get a hand on her precious planner. But he was running out of ideas. They had a lot of work to do and not a lot of time to do it anymore.

And Piper was nowhere in sight.

So he went to the only other place she could possibly be. The librarian didn't glare at him this time as he stepped into the silent room, nor did she even bother to ask him why he was there. Leo made his way through the bookshelves quietly,

Sure enough, Piper was asleep on the floor, as she had been the last four times he'd tried to hunt her down. He'd restricted his conversation with her to classes and their one study session/discussion group they'd had one afternoon with Nick, too afraid that the conversation would turn less fun and more business. He'd never wanted to disturb her sleep.

Nevertheless, her planner wasn't lying around. So he carefully searched the nearby backpack until he discovered the precious thing. He looked over at her while he withdrew the small book from her bag and had to pause, like he had almost every day he'd found her.

Asleep, Piper was innocent and just as beautiful as he'd found her as he spent more time with her. She slept peacefully against the floor, her sweatshirt lying nearby. With a smile he lifted the fabric, folding it and placing it gently under Piper's head.

Then, with a heavy sigh and a last fleeting look at a girl he was so endlessly worried about, he turned and left, planner in hand.

_Okay,_ Piper thought to herself. _Everything is okay. Life will not end._

Her library corner was strewn with papers, binders, textbooks, pens and pencils, everything in her backpack and yet, her planner was nowhere to be found. He life had become that little book. She used it for everything, to try and remember everything and to organize what she had to do each night.  Her life was that planner.

Piper dropped to the ground in a panic. This was just not turning out nicely at all. Her life was crazy, nuts and insane and she'd known it. Part of her blamed Erin for piling as much as she could on Piper's shoulders, but part of her blamed herself for agreeing to take it all on.

_I can't do anything about it now,_ she thought to herself as she began gathering everything up to replace in her bag. _Though I would never let that thing out of my sight.__ Someone must have taken it while I slept. That'll teach me to fall asleep in the library with all of my things around_.

She was sure she looked as crazy as she felt as she raced out of the library and towards her history class.

"Pip! Hold up."

Piper closed her eyes as she skidded to a stop. "Leo, I don't have time for this, I'm already going to be massively late."

"You're not, the bell hasn't even rung yet," Leo answered, his worry blatant in his tone.

She stopped. "It hasn't?"

"No. It's not due to ring for another fifteen minutes."

Her shoulders sagged and she sighed. "I'm losing my mind."

"My sentiments exactly. You've seemed a little out of it recently."

Piper smiled slightly at his worry. "I'm fine."

"No you're not," Leo contradicted. "Four days of falling asleep in the library? I'm surprised you haven't completely broken down yet."

"Alright, I will be fine. Better?"

"When?" Leo responded, crossing his arms over his chest. "Because from where I stand if something doesn't change soon there won't be anything left of you."

Piper blinked. While she considered Leo one of her good friends, possibly even one of her best friends, she wasn't expecting him to challenge her or be so blatantly concerned. "When things calm down. Look, I thrive on stress, I'll be just fine."

"And if you collapse?"

"I haven't yet, have I?" she pointed out with a roll of her eyes. "I know me better than anyone and I say I'm fine with what I'm doing."

Leo sighed and reached into his backpack withdrawing Piper's planner. "You left this behind this morning in your rush to get out of calculus."

She looked at him gratefully. "Oh, thank God. I thought I'd lost it." She wrapped her hands around it, squeezing it until her knuckles turned white.

"That thing is incredible," he said honestly. "I'm surprised you can keep everything straight."

"It's organized," she responded as he fell into step with her. "It helps me keep everything straight."

He stopped, grabbing her wrist and swinging her around to face him. "You shouldn't have to keep everything straight. You're sixteen; you're supposed to have fun."

"I will be fine," she repeated. "Stop worrying, you're going to give yourself wrinkles before your time."

Leo sighed as he watched her walk away and looked up. He hoped what they'd planned would work before Piper ran herself out.


	13. Chapter 13: The Council of Changes

She was so late.

Well, technically she was going to be right on time to find a seat and get out her things. She wasn't going to have time to talk to Leo before hand to tell him she simply didn't have time to handle everything. Instead, she was going to have to explain it in front of everyone, embarrassing and humiliating herself in the process.

"Hello everyone," Leo greeted. "Let's get started."

Piper winced.

Leo spared her a concerned glance as he turned his gaze to the agenda. "The new books for the library and English department."

Piper opened her mouth, but Camy spoke up before she could say anything.

"The English books should be here in about six weeks. The English department said they'd handle the cataloguing and stamping so we don't have to worry about that."

"And the library?" Nick asked.

"The order will be sent in by the end of the week. Ms Graham did mention that she would probably need help cataloguing and shelving them," Camy reporting, consulting her notes.

Leo smiled. "Thanks Camy, what about the clothing flyers?"

Again Piper opened her mouth and again someone else spoke up first.

"I have 4 proposals for formatting," Zoe said, spreading four sheets of paper in front of her. "And the orders will have to be due by mid-March if we want everything to get here before things get too hectic.

Leo was nodding, watching Piper's fish-out-of-water expression with internal excitement and a perverse pleasure. "Did you have a date in mind?"

"Uh… March 18th."

Nick flipped through the council planner. "Looks good."

"Thanks Zoe. Can you take up the publicizing of that stuff?" he asked.

"Sure thing," Zoe agreed. "Posters and announcements?"

Piper watched the ping pong match without any real idea of what was going on. Her mind was racing, unable to follow the pace of the meeting.

"Sounds good," Leo approved. "Which leaves us with the Valentine's plans. Chocolates and roses?"

"Check on both accounts," Rick said. "Roses and chocolates are all ordered and going to be here in perfect time for Valentine's day."

"Excellent. Thanks guys."

Piper had no idea of what had just happened. All of that had been her things to handle for the meeting, bestowed upon her by Erin with a glare that told Piper it was another way she was trying to deal with the outsider on council. But Piper hadn't done any of it and yet, Erin didn't seem all that pleased with the outcome. Piper didn't pay attention to the rest of the meeting and if Nick hadn't deliberately dropped loudly into the chair next to her she probably would have continued her adventures in her own little world.

"So how Is La La Land this time of year?"

Piper glared. 'What the heck just happened here?"

Nick blinked innocently. "What are you talking about?" he asked, shooting Leo a playfully confused glance.

"You have to be kidding me. What are the two of you up to?"

"An intervention," Leo spoke up, still calm.

"Or delegation," Nick agreed. "We wanted to prove to you that other people on this council could actually get work done if you'd asked."

Piper sighed. "Prue called."

"Well, Prue called Andy, who called me, who talked to Leo, who talked to council," Nick replied. "But yes."

She turned to Leo. "So this is what the whole conversation was about in the hallway?"

Leo shrugged. "We were worried, that's all."

"You gusy are worse than Grams, worse than me. I told you I was fine."

Leo raised an eyebrow. "How much of that did you get done?"

She glared. "That's a low blow."

"Oh, I don't know," Nick said with a shrug. "You haven't heard how we got a hold of everything you were supposed to do."

Leo winced. He wasn't really sure he wanted to see Piper's reaction to the fact that someone had touched her precious planner, even if it was for the greater good.

Piper raised an eyebrow. "Oh really?"

"Nick, we don't need to pile anything else on her," Leo said.

"Oh it won't upset…" He stopped at the sweet smile on Piper's face that never boded well. "Maybe that information is better off classified."

"Oooh, wrong can of worms," Leo groaned as Piper turned her attention on him.

"Classified? What did you guys do? Stalk me?"

Nick shook his head.

Piper narrowed her eyes, trying to figure out what could be worse. "What did you do?"

Nick shrugged playfully. "Your planner didn't go missing recently, did it?"

"Are you kidding?! You stole my planner?!" There were very few things that Piper was so extremely protective of. Her planner was one of those things.

Leo sighed. "I told you."

"My planner?!"

"Piper, breathe. We borrowed it. You got it back the same way we got it," Leo tried to reassure her, coming around the table to sit on her other side. "We borrowed it for twenty minutes while you were napping in the library. We didn't change, add or physically remove anything. Heck, I wasn't even  sure what was important and what wasn't."

Piper wasn't sure if that made her feel better or worse. There was more to the issue than the fact that they took it. There were things in there that she didn't need other people to see. "My life is in that planner."

Nick was confused. He'd known Piper was protective and obsessive about her planner, but he hadn't realized the full extent to which she protected the organizer. What gnawed at him the most, however, was that Leo seemed to know and understand that.

"I was looking for specific things. Beyond that I promise I didn't look further," Leo placated. "And I promise you, I was the only one who looked."

Piper took a deep breath, part of her aware she was probably overreacting and it probably made her look endlessly neurotic. _I probably am neurotic_, she scolded herself. "Next time, try asking."

Nick exchanged a look with Leo. "There won't be a next time," he said, his voice brooking no argument.

"I'm a big girl, boys, I know my own limits," she protested.

"Sure you do," Nick agreed solemnly. "That's why we had to stage this intervention."

Piper actually blushed. "Okay, this time I didn't. But we'll call it al learning experience and you two can stop being worry warts," she said, patting Nick's cheek.

The bosy watched as she left. "Relapse in a week," Nick proposed, still watching Piper's retreating back.

"Two days before she's asleep in the library again," Leo countered.

Nick grinned. "You're on."


	14. Chapter 14: The Wrath of a Halliwell

Piper was pissed.

She made her way through the halls only half aware of the stormy look on her face and the way her school and classmates jumped out of her path. No one bothered her, no one said hello, no one walked within three feet of her as she made her way to her locker.

And it was all Phoebe's fault.

She loved her little sister dearly, but Phoebe's fiery personality had gotten her in trouble too many times to count. And last night, they had kept Piper up for the majority of the night. While the middle Halliwell sister had pulled her share of all-nighters to complete papers up to her usual standard, when she was prepared to sleep, she liked to actually sleep.

Piper had been worried about Phoebe when she wasn't home by curfew the night before. Sure, it wasn't the first time her sister had broken curfew, but it didn't make Piper worry any less. In fact, it arguably made her worry more. Phoebe was a rule-breaker by habit, but it assuage any of Piper's fears. So she'd slept fitfully, waking up at even the slightest noise until she actually heard Phoebe return around 3am. And then she'd had to deal with the awkward breakfast where Phoebe didn't talk to anyone, and Grams slammed around the kitchen.

Piper preferred to take her anger out at school.

When she was a loner, when no one even knew her name, it wasn't difficult to avoid everyone around her and even less effort to battle the crowded hallways. Now that she was known for the things she'd done for the science club, chess club and how she'd lobbied for new equipment for the chemistry lab, not to mention her plan to refurbish the library and increase the budget for the Model United Nations, there were very few people she crossed on a daily basis that didn't want to talk to her.

So it really shouldn't have been a surprise when not two minutes from reaching her locker, Leo showed up.

"Which sister?"

Piper blinked, still not used to how easily he could read her. "You don't want to deal with me."

"I wouldn't be here if I wanted to cushion myself. Which sister was it this time?" Leo vaguely understood the mediating qualities bestowed upon Piper as the middle sister. She'd told him about innumerable fights she'd played messenger through and indirectly how frustrating it could be.

Piper sighed and deflated. "Phoebe. She's going to be the death of me."

Leo chuckled. "What did she do?"

Piper blushed. Now that she was talking to Leo about it, it seemed so insignificant in the long run. "Broke curfew."

"Piper, she's fourteen. She's going to break it sometime." Then he paused, leaning against the locker next to hers and looking her over. "You've never broken curfew, have you?"

"Prue did a few times?" Piper offered. She looked up at him and sighed at his raised eyebrow. "No. I've never broken curfew. It's just…"

"She worries you,"' Leo finished. "You Piper Halliwell, are paranoid."

She glared at him. "You, Leo Wyatt, are not helping me."

He slung his arm around her shoulders. "Take a breath, Piper. You've got a lot on your plate. Take a few minutes to be sixteen, would you?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

He sighed, stopping and turning to block her path. "When was the last time you did something for you? I mean, you have this crusade to help every department in the school, you watch over both your older and younger sisters, you do your homework, you help around the house… when was the last time you took a minute to be just Piper?"

Piper looked at him, blinked, then glared. "I'm going to class."

Leo frowned, but let her walk around him. "We're not done, Piper!"

She just glared as she rounded the corner. Leo smiled. Of course, the Piper he knew now was not the Piper he'd met in September at their first student council meeting.

"Leo! There you are! We need budget approval for the new cheerleading uniforms."

Leo frowned fully this time, the expression creasing his brow. "They just got new uniforms last year."

Erin huffed at him. "And we've accepted eight new girls to the squad. They can't wear last year's uniforms!"

"Then they can pay for the uniforms. Erin, it's not in the budget."

It was Erin's turn to frown. "Why is it not in the budget? You're president, change the budget."

"It's not in the budget because the chem lab needed new beakers and safety goggles, not to mention the price of the binding material for the new books. Principal Colton and I talked about it," Leo explained with exaggerated patience. "This year's simply not a sports year."

"Every year is a sports year. What has gotten into you?"

"Nothing," Leo maintained. "You know I've always been fair."

"This isn't fair! This is blatant discrimination against the sports teams."

"I don't have time for this Erin. You can bring it up at lunch during council, okay? And be prepared for a fight. We don't have it in the budget." With that, Leo walked away.

It left Erin frowning in the hallway, watching his retreating back. Piper Halliwell was screwing with her school and messing with her last year, the year that was supposed to be her best. The squad gathered around her, looking at her carefully.

"Erin?"

"I want her finished."

--

It didn't take anyone long to see that the table was going to be a volitile atmosphere. It was on a general basis, especially when it seemed time for Erin and Piper to battle it out over whatever current issue they had with each other, that the tension in the air was that thick, but it seemed even worse this time. Even Leo seemed a little apprehensive to call the meeting to order.

"The cheerleaders need new uniforms," Erin snapped, glaring at Piper. "And apparently it's not in the budget."

"Of course not," Piper replied. "For once in their lives your precious cheerleaders aren't the most important thing. It's clothing, get them to pay for it."

"The school has supported the cheerleading squad every year since I started coming here, and years before that. Even your sister factored new uniforms into the budget."

"My sister also didn't factor in new tennis rackets, new soccer balls, new nets for the basketball hoops or paying for a professional choreographer to come in to teach the cheerleaders new routines," Piper snapped back. "Face it, athletics just isn't number one anymore."

"Athletics will always be number one, you little worm."

"Whoa!" Nick exclaimed finally jumping into the pingpong match. "Personal attacks are uncalled for and Erin, you've made two. Tone it down or get out."

"She is destroying our school! The budget was passed unanimously and she's trying to change it!"

"Did you even look at the budget?" Piper asked sarcastically. "Did any of you? Of course not. Half of you wouldn't have understood what the numbers meant."

"Piper, that was unfair," Nick admonished.

Piper took a deep breath. _Erin is a fine target to take out your frustration,_ she reminded herself, _but the rest of them don't necessarily deserve it._ "Sorry."

Still, her point had been made and Erin scrambled through her council notebook to pull out the sheet of numbers. "Why did we not get the same amount of money as last year? How are we supposed to run a successful athletic year with no money left? We don't have near enough to cover the end-of-the-year banquet, let alone new uniforms."

Piper felt a thrill of success race through her. "So change it."

That was enough to set Erin off again. "Listen here you little brat. Things have always been the same way. We've always ruled the school and I waited four years, I kissed ass for four years to get where I am and I will not let some… some… nobody come in and change it all. I will not let _her_ ruin my senior year!"

"It's not always about you," Piper said, her voice remarkably calm. "There's an entire student body that needs that money too, a student body that has been largely ignored for who knows how long in favour of things that can wait a year or two. How are students supposed to get the education they want when the equipment doesn't exist for them to get it?"

"Oh please, like we're known for the people who aren't in athletics."

A smirk slid across Piper's face. "I'm not surprised you don't know," she said, ignoring Nick's wince. "Since you started at Baker High 61 students have gone onto Ivy League schools like Yale and Harvard with full scholarships. 24 have gone on to schools overseas like Oxford. Many Baker High graduates have gone on to do pretty spectacular things, many who aren't part of athletics."

"And they've done it with the same amount of money," Erin retorted. "So where's the problem?"

"The problem is in the potential. Think of how many more students we could be sending to those schools if we had the equipment? Think of how many awards we have the potential of winning if we could find a few students to send to science fairs?" Piper replied, her voice starting to rise.

"Geeks don't do anything."

Piper raised an eyebrow. "No? Take a look around this council. Half of these people are arguably 'geeks'."

"These are hand-picked people," Erin replied with a smirk. "They all want the same thing."

"Hand-picked by whom?" Piper responded. "They aren't all under your thumb."

"Of course they are!" Erin exclaimed. "I rule this school. I am this school."

"Really? Then why am I still here?" Piper answered scathingly. "Face it, you don't have the control you once had. In fact, you don't have any."

Erin had turned a rather unfortunate shade of purple by this point. "Fine. I quit."


	15. Chapter 15: The Angel of Death

"What?"

"I quit," Erin repeated. "Let's see what you guys can do without me." And true to her word, she stood, gathering her things and heading out the door.

"What just happened?" Dan asked. "What did you do?"

Piper covered her face with her hands. "I didn't mean for that to happen."

"So what did you mean to happen? How are we going to get anything social done now?"

Much to Piper's surprise, it was Sienna who spoke up. "We do it ourselves," she said easily. "Most of the cheerleaders get involved in prom committee anyway and we have a much wider reach to the student body this year. The things Erin wanted to do aren't that far out of our reach. We'll be fine."

Zoe looked around. "Can I put forward an impromptu motion?"

Leo, who was still a little in shock, waved his go ahead.

"I'd like to motion that we, as the representatives elected to this council on behalf of the greater Baker High student body, put forward and vote on a motion to give Sienna the position of Social Chair in the absence of the elected Chair."

Piper blinked. This was the last thing she'd expected. She expected everyone to turn on her and go back to Erin's side.

"Do we have a seconder?" Leo asked on autopilot.

"I second the motion."

Piper was sure her jaw was on the floor. One of the very last people she had expected to speak up in favour of appointed someone else to the position of his peer was Rick, Sienna's counterpart. She'd essentially just goaded their friend into quitting and they didn't seem to care.

"Um… Anyone to speak for or against?"

"Are you kidding me?" Dan exploded. "Erin was elected to that position. The only group that can put someone in that position is the student body."

"Actually, that's not true," Nick spoke up, over his shock much faster than Leo. "It's up to council to find someone should the Chair elected be unable to fulfill their duties, whatever reason that may be."

"Well I speak against it," Dan snapped.

"Of course you do," Zoe murmured with a roll of her eyes.

"Erin knew what she was doing and she was good at it. Leo, you can't let them do this."

Leo sighed. "I'm not letting anyone to do anything. Council is run on a democracy and we have the choice to appoint a new Chair."

"Then I quit too. And everyone will know your little girlfriend is responsible for it."

Piper, who had stopped feeling bad about the whole thing with Erin, lost control over what she had left of her anger. "First of all, I'm _not_ his girlfriend, though I severely doubt me saying that makes any difference in the beliefs of the school. Second, responsible for what exactly? Responsible for making council more accountable to the student body? Responsible for expanding a discriminatory budget? For improving the overall faith in the students have in this group of people? Then fine, I'm guilty."

"And humble," Dan shot.

"There are people in this school that have been oppressed and held under the thumb of the same people who used to have so much power, members of the group who could do no wrong under the old administration. Well, guess what? Even tyrants have to give up power sometimes," Piper ranted. "All of a sudden you can't get intimidate a kid into writing a paper and you blame me. Fine, I don't care, but before I started here most of you stuck with the status quo While I don't credit myself with the change by a long shot, I mean, I'm one person and no where near that influential, the fact that all of a sudden there were people that stood up to you meant that things weren't so part of the status quo."

"Piper," Nick tried to interrupt.

But Piper was on a roll and releasing pent up anger, frustration and annoyance not only at Dan and Erin, but the anger she'd carried to school that day. "I'm sorry the athletic department isn't the head of the world," she continued sarcastically. "And I'm sorry you're not top whatever in our class, but there's more than just popularity involved in doing this. We were elected to represent the interest of _all_ members of the student body, not just one niche or clique. If I'm responsible for breaking up the council because I'm trying to include the needs of other departments and other students, you know what? I can live with that because I actually tried to do my job."

Dan, everyone knew, had no way to counter that. Instead, he stalked out and the room was plunged into silence once again. Piper's chest was heaving with the exertion of her outburst, but she had to admit, the headache that had started building had relaxed and dissipated.

Leo cleared his throat. "I think we'll postpone the social chair vote for the next meeting and adjourn this one." He watched the rest of council leave as Piper dropped into a chair. "Remind me to never piss her off," Leo murmured to Nick as the boys gathered their things.

Nick chuckled. "She's got a temper."

"I'll handle it," Leo said as Nick began to move towards the brunette. "You go see how much of the school already knows."

"You sure, man?" Nick asked skeptically.

Leo nodded. "I'll be fine."

Piper had meanwhile buried her head in her folded arms, her hair cascading around her. She raised her head when she heard the door close. "How much damage did I just cause?"

"That has yet to be determined, " Leo told her honestly.

Piper groaned. "I didn't mean to lose my temper like that. In fact, I didn't mean to lose it at all."

Leo chuckled. "It was an impressive display, if slightly misplaced."

"What's this going to do to council?"

"Like Sienna said, we'll deal," Leo told her with an encouraging smile.

Piper sighed. "Be honest and don't try and make me feel better."

"I haven't lied to you before, Pip, so why would I start now?" he pointed out gently, putting his hand on her back. "We can handle this."

She pushed herself upright, turning to face him. "I'm so sorry," she said. "Maybe I should resign my-"

"Don't you dare finish that," Leo told her harshly. "You've done a lot of great work here, Piper." The hand that had been dislodged from her back when she turned landed on her thigh and squeezed encouragingly.

She sighed. She had no reason to believe that he would start lying now. "I didn't like her, but I didn't necessarily want her to quit."

He believed her. From what he'd learned about Piper, she wasn't the type of person to actually wish bad on a person. "I know." He sighed. "You know as well as I do that this school was due for a change. It was better that it happened now, with the new administration, then it happening once everyone's comfortable in the same status quo."

Piper smiled. "Thanks, but it's not helping."

He took both of her hands, holding her gaze and attention. "You aren't responsible for breaking up this council. You said it yourself, you're only one person. Erin and Dan made their choice."

"Because I picked a fight," Piper contradicted, cursing the tears in her eyes.

"Because you cared," Leo corrected. "You were right when you said the job should be about representing _all_ of the student body, not just one group. Rearranging the budget was doing your job and doing it well. Standing up for other students was you doing your job well."

"And me causing two members to quit?"

Leo groaned in exasperation. "You are damned stubborn."

"It's a Halliwell thing," Piper responded. "We can't help it."

"You're good at it," he chuckled. "Look, Dan and Erin quitting was the last straw. I knew going into that meeting that there was a very good chance Erin was going to quit. That's who she is an who she's always been. You just happened to be the catalyst and the perfect scapegoat."

When he put it like that it actually sounded logical in Piper's mind and not just because it took the majority of the blame off of her shoulders. "And if it gets out?"

Leo shrugged. "They've already proven once that the school respects you. I don't think you have much to worry about. So? Crisis averted?"

Piper actually laughed. "Crisis somewhat averted," she agreed. "Thank you."

Impulsively he leaned forward, pressing a kiss to her forehead. "No, thank you. Now come on, I'll walk you to your next class."

"Ah, my white knight," she teased.

"That would make you a damsel in distress, which you are not," he answered.

She sighed. "But I probably look like the wicked witch."

"You look beautiful. Now stop fussing and let's go." He grabbed her hand, ignoring the way their fingers automatically linked together and pulled her out the door.

* * *

**_I actually have a few review replies to write, so there will be comments, but I actually managed to write chapter 16 in a way I liked. Unfortunately, it's going to be short, but it's a set up chapter for a bit of fluff, though ironically it won't be actual relationship fluff... more a what-could-be thing. I don't know if that'll bug you guys or intrigue you, LOL. _**

**_  
But aside from that, I hope you enjoyed this! LOL. And for all intents and purposes, no more Erin!_**

**_I think so anyway. She might pop back up at prom..._**


	16. Chapter 16: The End is Coming

Piper hadn't realized how time had flown by. She'd thought she had time, she thought there was lots of time before she had to think about becoming a senior. She'd thought that prom was miles away and finals weren't anywhere close. But the bright pamphlet on the front doors of the school sang the time loud and clear and Piper had to admit she was a bit shocked.

"Prom?" she asked Leila as she plopped down on the picnic bench. Both girls had started sitting with Leo and Nick at lunch.

"It's coming up, yeah," Leila said, shooting Piper an odd look. "You didn't know?"

"I had no idea. I thought finals were ages away."

Leila rolled her eyes. "Pick which one you want to focus on, for goodness sake. Prom or finals?"

"Both?" Piper answered sheepishly. "I just didn't realize time had gone by so fast."

"Well, Valentine's Day was ages ago, Easter was last week…" Leila pointed out. "It's not like this wasn't the next step."

"Have I been that out of it? That I haven't noticed?"

"Noticed what?" Leo asked as he and Nick took a seat across from them.

"That Prom was coming," Leila spoke up as Piper blushed red.

Leo raised an eyebrow. "I'm sorry?"

"I didn't realize it's the end of the year," Piper admitted. "I figured there was still time."

Leo shot her a crazed look. "You of all people? Miss Scheduled-to-the-Max? You were in on the last council meeting, you knew Sienna was going to start looking for committee volunteers."

She kicked him under the table, shooting him a playfully annoyed look. "What am I, perfect?"

Leo's jaw dropped playfully. "You're not?"

Piper kicked his shin again, making a face. "You've proven to me before that I'm not perfect. All of you have."

"Hey, everyone gets stressed," Nick justified. "You going out for the committee, Pip?"

Piper snorted. "You have to be kidding me." Meanwhile she felt her heart clench. She'd just gotten used to the huge changes that came with her election and her rise through the school's hierarchy. It was very difficult for her to realize that it was going to come to an end sooner than she'd realized.

"You and Sienna are much less volatile than you and Erin ever were," Nick pointed out. "Why not?"

"My interest in prom is almost minimal," Piper replied without thinking twice. She'd lived by that mantra the day she realized she would never be anyone within Baker High and nothing had ever changed. Or at least, it hadn't changed in Piper's mind.

Nick shot her a look that spoke of his inside knowledge of the brunette. Piper had always been the princess type, always wanted everything perfect, wanting to be cherished. He'd assumed that prom was one way she'd be able to do that. "Every girl has her need for prom. You get a chance to dress up, look pretty, dance the night away…"

"Much more Prue. Or arguably Phoebe," Piper agreed. "I'm all for looking good, but for a dance?" It wasn't totally true. She wanted the fairy tale prom. But she'd accepted long ago that it just wasn't in the cards for her and it wasn't going to happen.

Leo watched the whole exchange with curiosity. He knew Piper wasn't one for the conventional. She was rational and she was logical, but there was romance in her. There had to be, even if it was buried deep. She couldn't be so kind and altruistic otherwise. Of course, that went right along with the fact that he'd been considering asking her to come as his date. As friends, of course, because Leo was leaving in a few months time and wouldn't feel comfortable with strings tying him to high school, but Piper was the only girl he could think of that he could take and simultaneously ensure he had a fantastic time.

"Why not?" Leila asked, turning to Piper. "This is your year of firsts, right?"

Leo made a mental note to hug the girl later.

Piper, on the other hand, turned a skeptical look on her friend. "You _want_ me to go?" she asked in surprise. "We've been planning to boycott our formal for at least three years. Now you actually want me to go?"

Leila shrugged. She'd watched Piper grow and change, become someone that had standing and confidence. Piper going to formal would be like the icing on the cake of Piper's fantastic year. Leila couldn't fault anyone for that. "Why not?" she repeated.

There was a whole new thought process now, a whole new avenue that had opened up to Piper. She still wasn't comfortable with the whole idea, still was pretty sure that it would be useless to think about even going. It wasn't her prom, and she wasn't going to go without any sort of date. It just really wasn't… possible or probable. Especially since she wasn't part of the senior class and was most definitely not going to be on the committee. She tossed the apple she had in her lunch up and caught it. Then she shrugged. "Not my thing."

Nick and Leo exchanged a glance while Piper's gaze was still on the apple. They'd talked about prom, both of them hoping to ask the brunette - though Leo had deferred to Nick as the long-time friend and, hence, hadn't actually mentioned his desire - and they'd hoped that with the right persuasion Piper would agree.

And there was definitely a part of Piper that wanted to go, wanted to dress up, dance the night away, but she didn't want to go with the senior class, a bunch of people she barely knew. Most of them hated her as it was because of what had happened with Erin. She started packing her things, her brain whirling with the possibility. "I… I have to go."

"Piper!" Leo got up to go after her, leaving most of his lunch behind.

With an identical shrug, Leila and Nick dove into the leftovers.

* * *

_**And here we go, getting into the changes Piper wasn't aware she'd made in herself. Actually, I'm a bigger fan of the next chapter, I'm just hoping that this doesn't seem too disjointed. Piper's going to hit a lot of revelation-moments in the next little while and I'm definitely hoping they'll all fit together!**_


	17. Chapter 17: The Prom Date

"Piper, wait up!"

But Piper didn't stop. With her friendship with Leila, she'd accepted a lot of different things. She'd accepted that her place in the social hierarchy was at the bottom. She'd accepted that she wasn't meant for anything other than academics. She'd accepted that she'd have to do something remarkable or spectacular to put herself into someone's good graces enough that she may end up with the husband and children she always wanted.

Her election had given her new hope, outlook and meaning. She'd found a passion in defending those that didn't have a voice. She'd found hope in bringing a smile to the face of people who thought they would never have new books or new test tubes or new instruments. She'd found and rediscovered friends in Nick, Leo, and council-mates.

But it felt like too much to ask to be able to go to prom without worry.

"Piper!"

She wove in and around people without thinking twice. Tears sprung to her eyes as she went through the halls. Prue had said this was her year, Grams had been so proud of her accomplishments, both academically and within the greater school community. She'd had a good year, a really good year, but she'd never even given more than two thoughts to who she was becoming in the process.

Prom hadn't been on her radar. Heck, council had never been on her radar, but they'd both happened, and in the process, a lot of things had changed that Piper had not been prepared for. She'd barely gotten used to the changes on her outside and all of a sudden, there were changes on the inside she hadn't even been aware of.

And it was way too much for her brain to process.

There was a hand on her arm, spinning her around before she really had time to register what was going on. She expected to be crushed against the wall, thrown to the floor with no regard to her books and prepped herself for hitting the hard surface. Much to her surprise, she didn't connect with the floor or get slammed against the wall. Instead, she was pulled forward and connected with a solid chest.

Her brain was cataloguing very few things. What she did know was that her head had been buried in this chest before. In fact, she'd done more than feel the chest, she'd breathed the scent. Leo had her wrapped tightly in his arms, simply holding her in the middle of the hallway. She took a few deep, shuddering breaths, knowing her body was shaking against his. But the tears stayed at bay.

Eventually, strong hands pushed her away from the chest and she found herself being gently dragged through the hallways. When her mind registered the room they ended up in she almost had to smile. The yearbook office was as quiet as ever, more so since she and Leila didn't eat lunch in it any more. On the bright side, it meant privacy.

Leo took a seat on one of the nearby desks, facing her. "Want to tell me what that was all about?"

Piper shook her head. She didn't want to say a word to him about what was going on in her head, about what was making the world spin just a little bit. It seemed her life had caught up with her and she had very little idea of what to do with herself. She'd gone through more changes than she'd slated herself for since starting her junior year. Where most of the time she'd just let people walk all over her, now she stood up for herself and for those around her. She'd made Erin Gervais quit council because Piper wouldn't bow down to her.

The quiet Piper was gone, replaced by a rationally vocal young woman who stood up for the things and the people she believed in. Gone was the large majority of her cynicism towards the in-crowd and student politics. Instead, it had transformed into a mutant form of respect for the responsibilities they carried on their shoulders. She no longer believed that council was necessarily a bunch of mindless sheep. It was so much more complicated than that, so much more underlying the whole idea of follow-the-leader.

Her hopes, dreams and aspirations had changed in the course of one year and Piper still wasn't sure what that was going to mean in the long run. She was still working hard, still taking her AP courses and still kicking the rear end of any assignment she was given. But it seemed like the core traits that had made her Piper Halliwell were slowly disappearing.

"That's not true," Leo contradicted. "Those core traits will always be there."

Piper's head snapped up. She hadn't realized she'd said any of that aloud. "Where?" she asked, not bothering to hide the anguish that had crept up on her. "Where's the quietness, the protectiveness, the…"

"You're still kind," Leo interrupted softly. "You're still fighting for the things you believe in. You're optimistic, you're damned smart and you know how to get things done when they have to be. You know exactly what to do to get things done the way you want them without holding a reputation, or acceptance over someone's head and without being condescending. You now see other people as your teammates instead of people that are trying to ridicule you or put you in your place."

Piper was blushing bright red and she knew it. Leo had pegged so many things that he saw good about her, and by the look on his face, he wasn't finished yet.

"You're encouraging without trying, you go to students for their opinions on things. You know what needs to be done in this school to make it a cohesive well-functioning unit instead of the division that used to exist. You've given people strength they didn't know they had. Hell, Piper, you've given Nick and I strength that we were sure was lost to Erin's manipulation."

Piper looked at her feet. His words on top of her churning mind was starting to become too much. Her brain was starting to overload and she could feel the tears coming again, sliding down her cheeks to drop onto her shoes. It was too much to think about. While he was pointing out the ways that she still had things she'd prided herself on, it seemed like they were all entrenched in the experiences he'd had with her. The pessimistic part of her brain catalogued them as things that had changed, new ways she'd discovered herself and her abilities. And for someone as stuck to routine as Piper tended to be, it actually didn't help her mind all that much.

Then she was wrapped up in his arms again, the tears coming in earnest as she shook in his grasp. She wasn't sure who she was anymore. And what almost frustrated her more was that all of this had come with the new notion that prom wasn't a dream anymore. For as much as Piper prided herself on being rational and science-based, there was still a large part of her that enjoyed the prospect of being a princess, even if it was just for one night. She forced herself to take deep breaths, to calm the tears and eventually, her breathing. Leo pulled her away.

"Go to prom with me?"

Piper blinked, the tears still at the corners of her eyes. "What?"

"Prom. With me. You and me."

She couldn't process anything. Her mind was freshly fixated on the idea that her dream of prom may not be as far out of her reach as she'd once believed. What she did know was that she couldn't do that to someone rising as fast as Leo was. "I… no."

Leo blinked. "What?"

"Are you insane?" The usually rational part of her had kicked in, defence mechanism against the hell that was her emotional state. "You're a senior, class president, everything everyone wants to be minus the whole football captain, all-American boy. You've got the boy-next-door looks, the popularity even the most nerdy of nerd aspires to."

Leo sighed in exasperation. "I have no idea what that has to do with going to prom with me."

"I'm… the anti-prom! I crawled up from the depths of the student body. I wasn't even supposed to be on council, I just didn't want Erin to get the upper hand so I said yes to the position. I'm antagonistic, and I don't care what other people think of me and Sienna and Erin will plan it and…"

He was already rolling his eyes. "You're the one that's insane."

"I beg your pardon?" Piper asked indignantly.

"Look, a lot's changed, and you're not changing with it. It's why this whole thing is starting to make sense. Why won't you let yourself dream?"

Piper reeled. She'd known that becoming friends with Leo had the potential of killing her. He'd read her like a book more often than she'd ever like to admit. "What does that have to do with anything?"

He knew he had her. Either that, or he'd hit a nerve nonetheless. "You've got a lot going for you, Piper. I don't get why you won't accept that things have changed, that you're a different person now. And I don't understand why you're so fixated on everything you're not instead of everything you _are_."

"There are a million other girls that you could take," Piper protested, switching tactics. "Any one of which would be so much better."

"And I could take one of them and find myself listening to her simper about the perfect dress and how my tie has to match and how this girl or that girl looks fat in what she's wearing… Or I could go with you, a girl I'm guaranteed to have a great time with, and kick back with my friends."

Piper didn't know what to say, didn't know what to do and didn't know how to counter that. "You don't want me."

She had no idea how much that was not true. Leo took her hands, the gesture snapping her brown eyes to his. "I wouldn't have asked if I didn't mean it, Piper."

That much, she knew, was true. "Are you sure? I mean-"

"Stop it and just say 'yes'."

A smile started at the corners of her eyes, matching the blush she felt rising in her cheeks. "Yes."

After all, it wasn't like there were too many terrible things that could happen.

Right?


	18. Chapter 18: The Attempted Negotiations

Hell hit the first time someone asked Leo if he was going to prom with someone. Piper hadn't been around at the time – something she thanked every deity for – but she'd heard the rumours racing around the school as a result. And she saw the dark cloud over Erin's head.

"She needs to get _over_ herself," Leila grumbled as she watched the blond stalk by, her sheep following close behind. "She didn't stand a chance with Wyatt the minute he met you."

That caught Piper's attention. "What?"

Leila rolled her eyes. "Don't worry about it."

"Nuh uh," Piper shook her head. "You don't get to say something like that and then just shrug it off, Leila. What do you mean since Leo met me?"

"You're as blind as a bat, did you know that?"

Piper rolled her eyes as she slammed her locker shut. "Thank you, that's a real confidence boost."

"You and Wyatt have been attached at the hip since you started on council, you can't be blind enough to have missed that," Leila began, falling into step with her best friend.

The brunette shook her head. "Not true," she responded. "I don't have enough time to be attached at the hip. Not possible."

"Which brings me to moment two. Did you know he orchestrated Operation Make-Piper-Relax?"

Piper shot her friend a look. "What?"

"Remember when you were all stressed out back in February? He was the one that offered to steal your precious planner. He was the one that reassigned everything that needed to be done. He was the one that was so adamant about doing it, about making sure you took a break for a change and saw there were other people that felt the same way about this school that you do."

Piper blinked. To say she hadn't been prepared for that information was an understatement. "What?"

"The whole thing was his idea. He hated watching you fall apart, hated watching you destroy yourself because you thought you were the only one that could do anything to help anybody. So he orchestrated the whole thing. Did you really think it was anybody else?"

Piper's mind was spinning and she hated how many different doors this all of a sudden opened up. "I don't… What… What does it mean?"

Leila stopped dead. "You're kidding me, right? Piper, that man would move heaven and earth for you."

Piper raised an eyebrow. "He's eighteen."

"What does that have to do with the price of peas in Persopolis?"

"Everything! What you're implying… it just isn't possible. Or probable."

Leila rolled her eyes and almost growled. "Stop thinking scientifically for goodness sakes! There isn't anything analytical about this, Piper, this has everything to do with emotion."

Emotion had been exactly what Piper was carefully avoiding. In fact, she'd been burying herself in her education, in her responsibilities at home, in her responsibilities on council to keep it all at bay. There had been a number of little moments between her and Leo that she'd written off as being two really good friends or something and older brother would do for his younger sister. She'd had to, if only for the sake of her sanity. She figured everyone had done the same, but if Leila was commenting on it, she wasn't so sure everyone had been as naïve as she'd hoped.

And that was only the people on the outside. If there was one thing Piper had learned it was that denial was a very nice place to exist. It had doubled as a safe haven and had made working with Leo much easier. But Leila had now turned that on its head. The feelings she'd denied and buried were springing up to make themselves known again, especially with the spark of hope that maybe, just maybe, he felt the same way.

"Leila-"

"Don't even bother. I know you, Piper, arguably better than Trudeau does. I've known you through your years of high school. You've been agonizing over the fact that the end of the year is drawing closer and closer. I know you're driving yourself nuts over the fact that you can't understand why you're suddenly nostalgic for September."

It was a terribly accurate summary. "Sounds like you've got it all figured out. So enlighten me."

Leila shrugged nonchalantly. "You are head over heels for Leo Wyatt."

"You're off your rocker," Piper snapped, more out of surprise than anger. "Completely insane."

"Don't give me that. You guys have been dancing around this 'thing' almost all year. Trudeau and I seriously considered throwing a party when we compared notes and discovered Leo's prom date was none other than you." She frowned a moment. "Which actually kind of explains why Erin's got it in for you. She was sure Wyatt would ask her."

"You really have lost it. Too many fumes in the art room."

Leila rolled her eyes. Denial frustrated her. She had no time for it, nor the patience. "You're the one who has been breathing too many chemicals if you think I'm not telling the truth. You had that guy wrapped around your finger the first day he met you."

Piper blew out an exasperated breath. "I don't live in a fairy tale, Leila. I'm not the type of girl guys like Leo go for."

"Since when have you ever believed in that stuff?" Leila asked with an arched eyebrow. "Especially as the girl who conquered Baker's High's social hierarchy. You've given hope to the most helpless of people."

"There's no believing involved and you know it."

"Pull your head out of the ground woman! Take a look around you!"

Piper turned slowly, making sure Leila was looking her in the eye as the next words came out. "I'm going to say this once, then we're going to drop it. Leo will never like me. Never. It's just not in the cards. We're going to prom as _friends_ as difficult a concept as it seems for people to understand. _Friends_."

"But you like him."

"Moot point," Piper snapped. "It won't happen. Thus, my feelings don't matter."

Leila had a whole list of arguments in her head, but she knew Piper and when Piper said 'drop it' there was no getting through to her, no matter how good the argument was. "I reserve the right to say 'I told you so'."

Piper rolled her eyes. "Don't hold your breath."

* * *

Leo flipped through the college brochures in front of him with a heavy sigh. He'd gotten into every college he applied for, including Princeton and Stanford. While he was proud of the achievement, he couldn't seem to make his stomach settle at the thought of moving away.

"Why so down?"

He met Piper's concerned brown eyes with an attempted smile. "College."

"Again?" she asked as she slipped onto the bench beside him. "I thought you'd decided."

He'd let her believe he had. "Just reviewing my choices."

"Nice try, but 'reviewing' doesn't bring out the wrinkle between your eyebrows, buster. Worrying, on the other hand, usually brings out that expression," she countered, pulling one of the pamphlets closer to look at as she dove into her sandwich.

"You've been watching me," he accused as he pawed through her lunch. "You mind?" he asked, shaking her bag of cucumbers.

Piper shook her head as she picked up another brochure, hoping she hadn't blushed. "Didn't you pick Stanford?"

_Before you accepted my invitation to prom and sparked my hopes._ "I took another look at SFU last night," he answered with a shrug. "Made me re-think my choice."

"You're not staying here," Piper told him point blank.

He raised an eyebrow. If it had been anyone else or if he hadn't gotten used to the bossy side of Piper, he probably would have been upset or offended. "Why not? SFU is a good school, it's close to home-"

"It is home," Piper interrupted without looking at him.

He continued without missing a beat. "I can come visit whenever I want. It's close to the med school I want and this way, if I can't build up the money, I can stay at home."

"You have scholarships," she argued. "You'll be fine."

Leo forced a chuckle. College had been a point of tension between them since Leo had gotten his acceptance letters. Piper believed he should take the opportunity to get away while Leo preferred the idea of staying close. But he'd been tactful with his approach, especially since Nick had told him of the fit Piper had thrown when she found out he'd accepted SFU.

"You know, Pip, if I didn't know better, I'd say you didn't want me around."

Oh, how opposite her feelings that was. She wanted him around more than she'd like to admit. "Good thing you know better."

Leo sighed. "Then I don't understand where all this hostility is coming from when it comes to SFU."

"Come on, Leo, you have so many choices and you're choosing the safe one?"

"It has nothing to do with safety. I happened to like SFU, there are a lot of pros associated with SFU."

Piper rolled her eyes. This was another part of the end of the year she'd been trying to avoid talking about. "Can we not talk about this?"

"If you make me a deal."

She sighed. "I'm listening."

"I'll make a pro-con list for SFU, Stanford, Princeton and one other school of your choice. If I can prove SFU has more pros and better pros than the other colleges, I go to SFU without anymore arguments from you."

She wrinkled her nose as he tapped it. It was a logical thing, reasonable, if slightly subjective. There wasn't any good reason for her to disagree. "Fine. But I get the final evaluation as to which has more or better pros."

Leo rolled his eyes. "Fine." He held out his hand. "Deal?"

Finally she looked at him. "Deal."

* * *

_**Ah, the set up chapter, though I highly enjoyed writing Leila trying to convince Piper to just go for it. Beauty is in the fun parts, my friends.**_

_**Anyway, I'm hoping you enjoyed this, and I'm hoping you're ready for Prue and Phoebe. They're making a thorough appearance in the next chapter! We all know no one is safe when the Halliwells go shopping.**_


	19. Chapter 19: The Sister Effect

Prue always got a rush when she could surprise her sisters, even more so when she could surprise them by waking them up. The fact that this was revenge for Piper not mentioning a thing about going to prom with Leo gave her good reason to drag the middle Halliwell shopping for a dress too and Prue knew Phoebe wouldn't give up the chance to go shopping.

"Morning!" Prue exclaimed throwing Piper's bedroom door open.

Piper jolted upright, registered that it was Prue in the doorway, groaned, and dropped back into the bed sheets. "What are you doing?"

"We are going shopping, missy," Prue replied, her tone brooking no argument. She ripped the sheet cruelly from Piper's body exposing her to the less than warm morning air.

Piper squealed and blearily took in the clock as she tried to fight Prue for her blankets. "Prue, it's early. For once in my life I got a chance to sleep in, can't you give me another hour?"

"We have quite the day ahead of us, I can't let you just lounge around. I know how much you hate dress shopping." Prue yelped as she fell backwards, Piper having let go of the blankets in her shock.

"Not happening. No way. Not going."

Prue rolled her eyes. Piper could be so predictable sometimes. "You were the one that agreed to go to prom with none other than Leo Wyatt. You don't get a choice."

Piper groaned. "Come on Prue, can't I just dig something out of my closet?"

Prue looked suitably offended. "You mean to tell me you don't _want_ a new dress?"

"I hate shopping."

"You pretend to hate shopping," Prue shot back with a roll of her eyes. "And this just isn't _any_ shopping, this is shopping for the perfect prom dress to make Leo just kiss you and put us all out of our misery."

Piper leaned up on her elbow to glare down at her sister. "That's not even funny." She pitched a pillow at the older brunette.

Prue's response was muffled into the fabric.

"What?"

"It wasn't meant to be funny," Prue repeated, tossing the pillow back at her sister. "But even Andy's complaining that Nick's complaining about you and Leo. I swear to God I'm just going to lock you both in a storage closet and not let you out until you both admit you like each other."

Piper flopped back down on her bed. "What does it matter, he's leaving in a few months anyway."

"Exactly my point," Prue replied, pushing herself to a sitting position. "You have very little time left, why not take advantage of it? Where's he going, anyway?"

"Stanford," Piper said with finality.

Prue raised an eyebrow. "That sounds for sure."

"Not you too," the younger Halliwell moaned. "Why is everyone jumping on this bandwagon?"

"Depends on which one you're talking about," Prue said as she moved to sit beside Piper on the bed. "I heard you gave Nick and earful when he told you he was staying here."

"He got into better universities and colleges," Piper snapped irritably. "Why would he pick the one that's closest to home? That doesn't make logical sense."

"To you," Prue pointed out. "Remember, I'm not that far away."

Piper rolled her eyes. "The best you could get was right here. Leo got into Stanford and Princeton for goodness sakes."

"There's something that draws him to whatever school he wants to go to here, is that really that hard to understand?"

"It is if that thing is me," Piper said with a sigh. "I couldn't stand if they chose to stay here and then regretted it and blamed me."

Prue cocked her head. "Its not like its impossible to transfer," she pointed out. "And you have no proof that either of them are staying for you."

"I thought I heard another voice," Phoebe interrupted, flouncing into the room and perching herself on the end of Piper's bed. "What brings you home, Prue?"

"Prom dress shopping," Prue answered. "For Piper."

Phoebe squealed. "Who's the older guy?"

Piper rolled her eyes. "None of your business," she snapped.

"Grow up, Piper," Prue said with a roll of her eyes. Then she turned to Phoebe. "Leo Wyatt."

"Well it's about time," Phoebe said with a decisive nod.

Piper grabbed the nearby pillow and stuffed her face into it as she screamed. Prue and Phoebe exchanged a slightly worried look. It wasn't like it was a life or death situation. Most of it was just teasing. Phoebe nodded to Prue, letting her take the lead.

"Why does this frustrate you so much?" Prue asked removing the pillow from Piper's head. "I mean, liking a guy isn't the end of the world. Heck, it's not even life or death. I don't understand why you're so against this."

Piper sighed. "Okay, too much interrogation before breakfast. Food, and I will agree to go shopping – without complaining – if we can drop this particular line of questioning."

"What? That's not fair!" Phoebe exclaimed following Piper's quick steps out of the room, down the hall, down the stairs and into the kitchen. "I missed all of the beginning of the interrogation!"

* * *

"Two? You're kidding me! I'd kill to be the reason two guys, two hot guys at that, to stay in the same town," Phoebe said as she waded through dresses.

Piper rolled her eyes, crossing her arms over her chest. "Well I wouldn't. They're giving up a million opportunities. And didn't we say we weren't going to talk about this?"

"You lost the deal when you complained to Phoebe about the number of dresses in the second store. Plus, this isn't about your relationships, this is about how anal you are about where they're going to college. For goodness sakes, they are old enough to make the decisions themselves," Prue replied.

Piper huffed. "Well they need to start making the right ones then," she said in frustration.

"Your assessment wasn't even fair to begin with," Prue continued, as if she hadn't heard Piper. "Leo's right in saying he'll be in a good school for what he wants. You can't tell me that isn't looking out for his future."

"What does that have to do with opportunities? They're giving up opportunities, not their futures," the usually calm middle sister argued.

"Why do you care?" Phoebe asked tactlessly. "It's not your decision."

Prue slapped her youngest sister's arm with a glare before turning back to Piper. "They think you matter. Is that so hard to believe?"

"And that means it's a good idea to consider me as a factor?" Piper asked snappishly. "That's stupid."

"Maybe it's because you're all stressed out all the time," Phoebe suggested, turning to pile dresses in Piper's arms. "Try these on."

"I am not stressed all the time," Piper exclaimed, trying not to trip over dresses as she headed for the change rooms. "And I'm not a baby."

"Your track record says otherwise," Phoebe called back. With a nod of finality, she and Prue followed Piper's path to join her in the change rooms. "I mean, didn't they stage an intervention or something?"

Piper poked her head out from between the curtains. "How did you find out about that?"

"Word got around," Phoebe responded with a shrug. "Plus, you're my sister. I was bound to find out from someone."

Piper huffed as she withdrew back into the change room and another dress. "That was one time."

"It would have been more than one time if they hadn't stepped in," Phoebe called knowingly. "I live with you, I know how you work."

Piper sighed as she stepped out of the change room. "I don't know…"

Prue wrinkled her nose at the pale blue halter. "You're too short to wear a full-length dress," she said with finality. "And even Andy heard, not that it's too much of a stretch. Even if he did hear it from me."

"You told Andy!?"

Prue and Phoebe exchanged a look. "I didn't know it was possible to hit that note," Phoebe said with a conspiratorial grin.

"Of course I told Andy. Who else was I going to call at 4:30 in the morning after getting off the phone with you? I couldn't directly call Nick, I'd have woken his parents," Prue said, explaining it like it was the most logical thing in the world.

"Remind me why you two broke up in the first place?" Phoebe asked eyeing Piper critically when she stepped out in another dress. "You always wear black. Try one of the red ones."

Piper wrinkled her nose at her younger sister. "Red's your colour not mine."

"Then one of the dark ones," Phoebe responded with a roll of her eyes. "Trust me."

Piper sighed and stepped back into the change room. "Why did you and Andy break up, Prue?"

"I'd hoped you'd forgotten Phoebe's question," Prue admitted.

"Well it's either you or me, and I'm sick of talking about me," Piper called back. "We figured you and Andy were the real true thing. You broke my heart when you broke up."

"We were going different places," Prue defended.

"This coming from the woman telling me I should go for a guy who is going away to college too. Come on, Prue," Piper replied. "That's a bad excuse and you know it."

"It's true! And there's no guarantee Leo's going away."

Phoebe's eyes widened as Piper stepped out in one of the dark red dresses she'd picked out. "That's it!"

Even Prue was grinning at the dress. "I agree. That's beautiful, sweetie."

Piper regarded herself in the mirror. She'd never have picked out a strapless dress, and if it wasn't for Phoebe, probably wouldn't have chosen the colour either. "Are you sure?"

Phoebe rolled her eyes. "Of course we're sure," she responded. "I know my dress fashion."

Piper took a deep breath. She trusted her sisters. She'd trusted them when they did her original makeover the summer before and that trust hadn't wavered.

"Piper, you look beautiful," Prue said sincerely, knowing when her sister was going through a crisis of self-confidence. "Leo will be floored."

"So not the point," Piper whined. "You know the type of people I'm going to this thing with."

"This thing is prom," Phoebe said with a roll of her eyes. "And all the more reason to aim for something that'll knock their socks off. I mean, you made Erin Gervais quit, wouldn't it just be icing on the cake to see her squirm when you show up looking absolutely gorgeous?"

"Again, not the point!"

"Then what is!" Phoebe called back in exasperation, taking the dress Piper thrust out at them. "You are confusing."

Prue snorted in laughter. This was the type of thing she missed when she wasn't at home. She couldn't fault Piper in this instance. She and Andy had gone through hell in the last few months of high school while they both tried to decide if the relationship was worth pursuing when they went away to college. Instead, they'd agreed to break up and if it happened again, well, it happened again. And it didn't seem to have any real effect on their friendship.

Piper stepped out of the change room with a sigh, back in the clothes she'd come in. "I'm not sure I know anymore."

Prue looked at her sister's dejected face with a pang in her heart. Each of them had their own struggles, but it had always seemed to Prue like Piper struggled more than she or Phoebe did. "Come on," she decided as she delicately took the dress from Phoebe. "Let's go get some ice cream and talk about Phoebe. She hasn't had to endure an interrogation yet today."

"Or uncomfortable conversation," Piper agreed. After paying for the dress and exiting the store, Piper stopped and gave each of her sisters a big hug. "Thank you."

Prue and Phoebe smiled, pulling her back in for a full group hug. "Don't mention it."


	20. Chapter 20: Prom Part One

Piper was surprised at her shaking fingers the night prom came around. She'd analyzed everything she could to try and figure out why she was so nervous, but nothing came straight to mind. For the first time in her life she was happy to let Prue and Phoebe take over in dressing her, doing her hair and she reluctantly let Prue apply make up. Neither sister would let her look in the mirror until the entire outfit was assembled and complete.

Finally both sisters stepped back with identical sighs of contentment and relief. It had taken them hours and a lot of patience on Piper's part, but they'd finally finished.

"Grams! We're done!" Phoebe called.

"Well, let me see!" Grams called back.

Phoebe giggled, almost skipping down the hall. It left Prue and Piper behind. Piper fussed with her hair and the large curls that her sisters had managed to twist her hair into.

"Stop it," Prue requested, slapping at her sister's hands. She pulled Piper over to her bed and sat her down. "I need you to promise me something."

"Promise you something?" Piper asked. What on earth could Prue want her to promise now?

"You have to promise me that you'll have a good time with Leo tonight," Prue requested, brushing strands back from Piper's cheeks.

"Prue, come on, you know I can't promise that."

"Promise me, Piper."

Piper was surprised at how adamant Prue was. "I…"

"Don't talk about college, don't pick fights about it and for goodness sakes, Piper, lay one on the poor boy and put us all out of our misery," Prue said squeezing Piper's hand.

"Prue!"

The elder brunette laughed. "Okay, I'll let the last one go. But I'm serious about the first two. Don't worry about anything tonight for a change, except having fun." They both heard the doorbell and Piper turned fearful eyes on Prue.

"Piper! Leo's here!" Phoebe called.

"Don't worry," Prue encouraged. "You're beautiful."

"Thanks," Piper whispered. She stood, absently smoothing down her dress. "Here goes nothing."

Leo looked up the stairs as he heard steps in the hallway. Prue came down first, a satisfied look on her face. He smiled back briefly, greeting her with a nod. However, his breath caught in his throat when he caught sight of Piper. Her dress came down to brush her knees, the deep red of the fabric complimenting the dark colour of her hair and eyes. He absently made his way to the bottom of the stairs, holding out his hand as she descended down the last few steps.

Piper blushed as she took the offered hand, coming down to stand in front of him. "Hi," she said shyly.

Leo was totally speechless. He raised her hand, still holding it, motioning for her to spin. Piper rolled her eyes, but did as he asked. Finally getting control over his jaw, Leo grinned. "Wow."

Piper blushed even redder. "Thanks, I think."

The flash of the camera startled them both.

"God, Piper! Come on!" Phoebe groaned.

Piper glared at her younger sister. "Do not start with me."

Grams was watching with tears in her eyes. Prue had been gorgeous when she had been all dressed up for prom with Andy, but there was something almost more satisfying about seeing Piper ready to go. Her shy little Piper, the mediator, her precious little helper seemed so much more grown up dressed like she was. It made Grams endlessly proud of Piper that she had come into her own and found her own place in the school.

"We should probably get going," Leo said. He was still awed at how well Piper's natural beauty had been emphasized by her sisters. "And I can't wait to see the look on everybody's face when they see _you_."

* * *

Nick was the first one to spot them when they stepped into the Baker High gym. He grinned as they made their way over. "Well, look who finally showed up. And if I may say so, Miss Halliwell, you look absolutely stunning."

Piper blushed, much like she had with Leo's compliment. "Thanks," she said softly, taking a seat that Leo pulled out for her.

"Speeches start in ten minutes, then the awards," Nick reminded Leo as the latter sat beside Piper.

"Speeches? You never mentioned anything about a speech," Piper said in surprise. She tried to hide her blush when she realized Leo had moved a chair closer so he could drape his arm across the back of hers.

"Every year," Leo responded with a grin. "And then, of course, there's the prom king and queen awards to give out."

Piper rolled her eyes. "Oh goody."

"Its not that bad," Nick said with a chuckle. "And at least we know Leo's speech will be entertaining."

"Leo! There you are!"

Piper resisted the urge to roll her eyes and vomit at Erin's gleeful greeting.

"Come on, we have to get everything organized for speeches and that."

Piper was choking. Or at least that's what it felt like through all of Erin's cheer. She blinked in surprise when Leo pressed a kiss to her temple as he stood. "I'll be back."

Piper knew her cheeks were bright red and cursed herself for the millionth time. It seemed that blushing reflex wasn't disappearing any time soon for that night. She sighed looking up at the ceiling and the balloons, trying to get her body to calm down. She wasn't going to allow herself to dream about anything with Leo, even for a night. She could feel her heart in her throat as she made small talk with Nick and his date, a girl Piper had only seen and never met. It was odd to be in the situation she was, odd to feel like she may actually belong somewhere other than the outside. And she couldn't help her grin when Leo stepped onto the stage, even if it was with Erin.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I promise I'll keep this short. I think I speak for all of us when I say the decorating committee outdid themselves this year."

Piper clapped with everyone else. She may not like Erin, but she and Sienna were, at the very least, close acquaintances and Sienna had picked a good committee for the work. The place was gorgeous.

Leo grinned. "This has been one heck of a year, that's for sure. We've been through a lot, seen a lot and dealt with a lot, and I know it's not over yet. I won't mention the dreaded 'exams'."

The crowd booed.

"But I will remind you guys to be safe tonight, but have fun. I'll turn it over to our Social Chair Sienna Vries to announce this year's prom king and queen."

Piper breathed in deep as she watched her fellow council mate stepped up to the microphone. For some inexplicable reason, her heart was beating heavily in her chest.

"Alright, I'm going to cut to the chase without the drama of making you wait. Prom king for this year is…" The entire room chuckled when they started a drum roll. "Our student body president, Mr Leo Wyatt."

Piper's grin was huge as she clapped along with everyone else with a strange feeling of pride as Leo crossed the stage. She was surprised at the intense way he met her eyes as Sienna placed the crown on his head. Then he waved slightly as he went to stand off to the side.

"And the prom queen…" Sienna laughed into the mike as she opened the envelope. "Miss Erin Gervais."

Piper clapped politely but shot Nick a disgusted look.

"And they have to dance together," Nick stage whispered across the table.

Piper glared.

"Ah, don't do that, Pip! Look on the bright side." He stood up with a smile to his date before holding out his hand to Piper. "You get to dance with me."

The brunette rolled her eyes but took the outstretched hand, allowing Nick to pull her up. "Alright, I guess I can spare my best friend a dance."

* * *

_**I have good news and I have bad news.**_

**_Bad news: There's one more chapter left in this one. _**

**_Good news: I'm so pumped to start Seventeen Going on Eighteen. In fact, I've already started the first chapter. Naturally, I won't put it up until I've got chapter 3 done. Like this one, I'm going to try and stay 2 chapters ahead. And it's the relationship one, so I'm looking forward to writing that one more. It was so hard to keep just friendship in this o__ne._**

_**Thanks to everyone who's reviewed so far!**_


	21. Chapter 21: Almost From Scratch

"You're turning an unflattering shade of green there, Pippy," Nick teased as they danced to the slow beat prom committee had picked out.

Piper glared at Nick, but only for a moment, her eyes darting back to where Erin was pressing herself as close to Leo as she possibly could.

"Oh settle," Nick said with a roll of his eyes. "Leo's only got eyes for you. Erin's not even on his radar and hasn't been for years."

"Leo and I are just friends," she replied with the exasperation of someone who'd been answering that same question for far too long.

Nick tried not to let on he was just annoyed with trying to convince her as she was hearing it. "Sure you are. Is that why he keeps glancing over here and you keep looking at him?" He felt a rush of satisfaction at Piper's blush.

"Why does everybody think that there's something between us?" she asked quietly. "Especially this close to the end of the year."

Nick hugged Piper tight, recognizing the underlying insecure note in her voice. "People like gossip, what can I say?"

Piper sighed, hugging him then letting go. "I don't like it. At all. Leo and I are friends, that's it, end of story."

"Why won't you give him a chance?"

"What?" Piper's eyes were wide in surprise when she looked up at Nick. "What are you talking about?"

"You're not that blind, Piper, nor are you that stupid,' Nick admonished. "Leo's crazy about you."

"That's the other thing everyone's saying."

"At least he admits it."

He'd caught her off guard again. "What?"

"At least he'll admit he's got a major crush on you. You won't even consider it," Nick responded shaking his head.

Piper raised a disbelieving eyebrow. "Uh huh. Sure he does."

Nick rolled his eyes. Piper's stubborn nature had gotten her where she was, but it drove him absolutely batty. "I know you love denial, but take a moment to look what's right under your nose. _He_ asked you to prom; _he_ orchestrated the Operation De-Stress Piper; _he_ sat and comforted you after Erin quit… Heck, Piper, you and I both know he's factoring you into his decision to stay."

Piper stiffened. "I didn't ask him to consider me."

Nick had to tread carefully and he knew it. Piper's voice had dropped to a dangerous octave and even he was smart enough not to push too hard. "Whether you want to or not, you're a factor. In his decision and in mine."

Piper pushed away from him, disgust on her face. "You'll regret it."

Nick let her go, but read deeper than her disgust. He was once again glad he hadn't lost his knack at reading Piper. "I won't."

"You will," she repeated. Even the conviction in his voice did nothing to assuage her fears.

As he felt her pulling away completely, he grabbed hold of her hands tightly. "You're a walking contradiction."

"You've been friends with me for years. You sound like that's something new."

"I didn't realize it was going to be this bad. Piper, you're _important _to people."

"I don't care how important I am, it's no reason to throw away the Ivey Leagues. You guys have worked 4 years for this. You're not going to give it up because of me."

* * *

Leo had been surprised to find Nick on his own at the table. He knew there wasn't much room for Piper to wander, but that didn't help his mind. Something had thrown Piper off and he wasn't sure is she was going to be open to sharing. Nick's mutinous face had clued him in to the possibility of what had occurred. He knew there was a good possibility that talking to Piper was going to be an uphill battle.

When he did find her, he paused in the doorway. She looked angelic with the street lights around her, her hair long against her back. Yet, he knew the fold of her arms and the tense posture of her shoulders spoke of her churning mind. "Piper?"

She turned and gave him a small smile. "I'll be in soon." Even as the words came out of her mouth she knew it wasn't going to be enough for him. Sure enough, as she turned her eyes back on the football field, she heard his footsteps on the cement.

"What's going on?"

There was no way Piper could stop or hide the shiver that raced through her when his hand settled on her shoulder. Her emotional boundaries were weak at best and she could feel those emotions welling up in her chest. Leo's presence wasn't helping either. He wreaked havoc on her emotions as it was.

"Piper?"

"I'm just… Thinking."

"I can hear the gears turning. Want to talk about it?"

She smiled at him briefly. "I'd rather not."

Leo didn't ask questions, just steered her to the nearby stadium seating. He sat beside her in silence, both of them simply looking out across the field. By this point he knew Piper well enough to simply wait it out. She'd talk when she was ready.

"Are you afraid of leaving?"

He looked over at her in pensive surprise. It was a question Leo hadn't been expecting. "Afraid of leaving? Baker High you mean?"

Piper nodded. "This has been everything for the last 4 years." It scared _her_ to think of them going.

"But there's more out there."

_Sometimes,_ she thought to herself, _he thinks he has all the answers._ "You're not afraid of getting lost in the crowd?"

"I'm going to," he said with a small laugh. "I'm aiming for med-school, Pip. My life will be books, books and more books."

Piper rewarded him with a small smile, but nothing more.

With a sigh, Leo turned his body towards hers, facing her as best he could in the seats. "What's going on?"

She echoed his sigh. "I don't know," Piper said honestly. "I don't know."

"How can you not know?" He asked the question softly, carefully. The last thing he wanted to do was spark her anger.

The air she inhaled shook her whole body. "It's… overwhelming."

Leo stayed silent. He didn't want to interrupt her and have her shut down.

"There's so much going on, so much to do, so much to say and I can't… It's too much."

He took her hand, holding it tight enough to be reassuring without crushing her bones. "Start small," he coached softly. Her glistening eyes broke his heart.

"It feels like the end," she whispered.

He smiled, trying to make it as reassuring as possible before pulling her close to press a kiss to her forehead. "Nah, of course not. It's the beginning."

* * *

**_I know, I know, anticlimactic ending and no Piper-Erin fight. But really, which is more dramatic? A fight between Piper and Erin or the upcoming epic battle between Leo and Piper? And I warn you now, Piper's reasons for ignoring Leo aren't exactly the most mature of reasons..._**

**_Before anyone asks, as soon as chapter 3 of Seventeen is written, I will be posting chapter 1. Be patient with me for a bit._**

**_And yes, people, this is the unfortunate end. Thank you to everyone that reviewed it. _**


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